


What is Love?

by Write Twice Read Once (DriveByDrabbles)



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Idols, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/F, F/M, Post-Idol, Pre-Idol, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:42:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26709973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DriveByDrabbles/pseuds/Write%20Twice%20Read%20Once
Summary: Set in an alternate timeline where Twice falls victim to the seven-year curse. Jeongyeon drifts away from her groupmates but after things fall apart, she returns home for a fresh start - and maybe another shot at finding happiness.
Relationships: Im Nayeon/Kim Namjoon | RM, Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Kang Daniel/Park Jisoo | Jihyo, Park Jimin (BTS)/Yoo Jeongyeon, Park Jisoo | Jihyo/Yoo Jeongyeon
Comments: 7
Kudos: 76





	1. What You Waiting For?

**Author's Note:**

> While 2yeon is the end game, it will be a winding road with near-misses and travel on other ships to get there.

_So what is love then_  
_Is it dictated or chosen?_  
_Does it sing like the hymns of a thousand years_  
_Or is it just pop emotion?_  
_And if it ever was there and it left_  
_Does it mean it was never true?_  
_And to exist it must elude_  
_Is that why I think these things of you?_

“Mystery”  
Indigo Girls

* * *

  
**New Year’s Eve, 2024**

I’m sitting on my bed while looking out the window at a clear, sunny afternoon. It was supposed to snow this week, but the weather let up and it was beautiful instead. The soft din of people downstairs muffled by the floor and the locked door keeping them all at bay. I opened the window, the cold air whistling briefly as it rushed into the warm room and over me. Goosebumps rose on all my exposed skin — quite a lot of it, actually, since I wasn’t dressed yet.

I looked over at what I hadn’t put on yet, hanging there on the back of the door carefully supported and with all its accessories. My wedding dress. It’s beautiful. The kind of dress a girl dreams of wearing to her wedding.

Looking at it caused my stomach to heave uncomfortably so I looked away again, out the window and breathed in the crisp winter air. Really, it couldn’t have been a more perfect winter date for a wedding. It was almost like nature went out of its way to help - pollution levels were down, no snow, not particularly cold for December. I could hear some birds chirping in the distance giving me just a moment of peace. 

For just a moment, I thought about jumping out onto the roof, climbing down the tree next to the house (I hadn’t done it in years though) and running away. But how would I explain that? A half-naked former idol streaking the neighborhood as she screamed and fled her parents’ house.

I was glad the girls had left, though they probably went looking for more tormentors.

Well, that’s not really fair to call them tormentors. It’s just Momo, Sana, Mina, and my _eomma_ who were calling through the door, pleading with me to get dressed and come downstairs so we could get started. Geez, can’t a bride have a minute to herself before she gets married? I looked at my dress and quailed.

_God help me._

I picked up a pack of cigarettes that I filched from one of unattended coats downstairs. Tugging one out, I held it in my thumb and fingers, starting at it as the tobacco fragrance wafted and tickled my nose. I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life. Never mind the controversy it would’ve kicked off in my idol days, it was just bad for your voice. Everybody knew that. 

I was ready to try anything to calm down right now, I was that desperate. Filtered end between my lips like I saw on TV, I flick the lighter and bring the flame to the tip. I have no idea what I’m doing, but it looks like I’ve lit it. I took a drag, watching the tip glow red and shrink the cigarette ever so slightly. Then my lungs felt like I just slammed them into a brick wall and they protested this abuse by sending me into a coughing fit. _This is horrible! People do this voluntarily?! Maybe I’m just doing it wrong._

I tried again. My lungs punished me a second time and this time I was dizzy with my head half-hanging out the window trying to draw in clean air. Luckily nobody was below.

_Knock knock knock knock-knock._

The pattern was unforgettable. We all knew that knocking after hours of practice.

“Jeongyeon, are you all right?” the voice asked in the hallway.

I tried to answer casually, but my response was punctuated with coughs. “Yes! I’m… fine! What… do you want, Jihyo?” I wheezed.

“I’m just here to talk.”

_So God is here to help me after all._

“I’m here alone,” she said a moment later. “Open up.”

I stumbled over to the door, unlocking it. She entered, spotted the cigarette, smelled the smoke, and saw my reddened face. She quickly shut the door. I saw her purse her lips and scowl at me.

“Yoo Jeongyeon!” Uh-oh. It’s never a good sign when someone uses your full name. “You do _not_ smoke.” It was hard to tell if that was a command, or a comment on my personal habits — either way she yanked the cigarette from my hand and tossed it out the window. Spotting the cigarette pack, she crumpled it in her fist and it followed the cigarette.

“I was thinking of starting,” I quipped.

The hard, stern looks of Leader Jihyo, _I’m-not-taking-your-shit-today_ Jihyo faced me, but it soon softened to Concerned Jihyo.

“Why are you doing this, Jeongyeon?”

“It’s supposed to relieve stress and I can’t eat or vacuum right now.”

“Not that!” she exclaimed and pointed accusingly at my wedding dress. “I meant this!”

“What are you talking about?

“Are you seriously going to go through with this?”

“Jihyo!” I was kind of shocked. Was she really telling me to run away?

“Listen to me. I can’t let you do this. You don’t love him, Jeongyeon!”

My back stiffened. Even barefoot, I was still taller than her. “Ex _cuse_ me? Yes, I do!”

“But not enough to marry him,” she countered, crossing her arms. 

“Who are you to tell me—”

She cut me off, poking me in my bare shoulder. “I’m your friend. I’ve known you for a long time now, Jeongyeon. You _have_ to call this off.”

“I can’t do that. Everyone’s downstairs.”

“Yes, they are. You were supposed to be down there, too, twenty minutes ago. But instead the bride is not yet dressed and still in her bedroom.”

“I— I needed some time to think about it.” I really, _really_ didn’t want to have this out with Jihyo right now. 

“You’re right,” she pressed. “You _do_ need to think about it. Stop this now. I’ll tell them for you if you want. It’ll break his heart. You’ll piss off a lot of people. But I’d rather you do that than be in a miserable marriage.”

I couldn’t look at her right now. She was in full Leader mode, even though she wasn’t my Leader any more. Not since we disbanded and went our separate ways a few years ago. I looked towards my old desk. A small package wrapped in blue silk sat on it and I felt emotions twisting inside me. A tight knot of pain. I swallowed thickly. _This is what we want, right?_

Below the window two male guests’ voices broke my trance.

“Hey… are these my cigarettes? What the hell? Did you do this?”

“What? Not me.”

“You’ve been wanting me to quit for months. This is low.”

“Seriously, dude, it wasn’t me!”

The voices faded again as they carried on with their arguments farther away from the house. Jihyo and I look at one another and share a small smile, but it faded quickly. “Go on, get out of here,” I said eventually and made shooing motions. “I need to finish getting dressed. Out.”

Intent brown eyes gazed at me. “You’re going to go through with this?”

“Tell him… I’ll be down soon.” My eyes flick towards the blue silk on my desk again.

Jihyo was too observant. “Jeongyeon, she—”

“Out!” I turned her around and shoved her out the door, re-locking it.

I pause at my desk and unwrapped the blue silk. Inside were two things: a simple card with my name written on it and a necklace. I got it a week ago on Christmas. I closed my eyes and remembered.

_“What’s this?” I asked as the silk spilled over my fingers as I tugged the ribbon free._

_“I want you to have it. I mean, you probably have everything for your dress already, but…”_

_Cradled in my palms was a silver necklace with a simple musical note charm. We bought them together ages ago, during our trainee days. She had its partner. We wore them more when we… were together. I gave mine to her when we broke it off. I couldn’t bear the reminder._

_“I can’t.”_

_“Please. For me. For what we had. If I ever meant anything to you… Promise me?”_

_I could never turn down that earnest look for long. It was too powerful. It also felt wrong to deny it, to let her be so unsure. Except maybe for Tzuyu, she was always the one so sure of herself._

_“Okay. I promise.”_

I reached behind my neck, fiddling with the clasp. It was always a little finicky, but I learned the trick of it, given how often I used to wear it. The silver, cool on my skin, glinted in the dull light as I faced the full-length mirror in my room.

“This is what we wanted, right Nayeon?” I murmured to the figure in the mirror. “It’s for the best.”  


* * *

“Finally. We can get started. Go, sit!” My mother looked a little harried, but resplendent in her hanbok. She clapped her hands and started getting people organized again.

Chaeyoung darted out of her assigned place and came up to me, earning her a frown from my mother. She looked lovely in her bohemian-style dress. “You look beautiful,” she told me with a careful hug. She opened her mouth to say more, but my mother shepherded her back into place. 

“Later, later! We are late, let’s get started!”

We had opted for a semi-traditional wedding. I wasn’t wearing a hanbok — I would later for pictures — and neither was he. He was in a tux which, admittedly, he looked good in. Our families bowed, exchanged gifts, said the traditional phrases when two families joined in matrimony. 

I stole a glance at the rest of the room. My sisters dabbed their eyes with a handkerchief as they smiled at me. My father, solid and supportive as ever, merely nodded - a shout of support from anyone else. And then I could see the Twice members who had come. I invited them all, of course. How could I not?

Momo, Sana, and Mina were together, encouraging looks on their faces. Next to them were our maknae, Tzuyu towering above Chaeyoung and Dahyun. Their faces beamed smiles - genuine ones, even. With the number of appearances we did over the years, I knew a forced smile when I saw it on these girls. They were happy for me. Jihyo’s features were harder to read. She was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. And there was one member missing.

I started to feel a little panic settling in. This wasn’t helping so I look back to my groom. His smile was broad, loving. 

_This is want we want. This is for the best._

I chanted this in my head over and over. I was so intent on focusing on this that I barely registered the officiant speaking about… holy shit, my vows. My eyes widen as a give a panicked look over to Jihyo. A slight tightening around her eyes told me everything. _Now do you understand what you’re getting yourself into?_

I turned to face my groom. He’s answered something to the officiant, who was now looking at me and saying something. Why isn’t she here? She’s not here! Of course she’s not here. She said she wouldn’t be. Why am I thinking about this now, of all times? I’m such an idiot! I tried to focus and the words slowly morphed from sounds into words I could understand.

“… and respect him, care for him, help him, in joyful times and in hardship from this day, every day, forever?”

In my peripheral vision, I could see a minuscule lean as everyone waited in anticipation for my answer. I felt Jihyo’s gaze burning her disapproval into me. I look up at the groom and say the word to seal my fate.

_This is for the best. This is what we want… right Nayeon?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spelling, grammatical errors are my own - I don't have a beta reader.
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	2. Love Foolish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living in L.A., Jeongyeon makes a discovery that shatters her world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder that getting to Najeong is a journey so... other ships will help get us there.

  
_I go to the other side of town and so I_  
_Never risk the chance will catch her eye_  
_Oh no, she don't have to know, she don't have to know_

_Oh girl I know your doing the same thing too_  
_But I won't tell your man the things we do_  
_Oh no, he don't have to know, he don't have to know_

“She Don’t Have to Know”  
John Legend

* * *

  
  
**August 2026**  
  
Morning dawned on Silver Lake, a quiet suburb of Los Angeles. Home of slightly more low-key celebrities who still had their beautiful houses, luxury cars parked in their driveways, trim figures walking their dogs early in the morning, and the sound of a leaf blower maintaining exquisitely manicured lawns. It was an ideal suburb for a former singer.

Almost an ideal suburb.

One of these houses had a foreign couple that moved in from South Korea. Famous singers, though one was more famous than the other. They were friendly with their neighbors. He was handsome and successful, she was gorgeous. Their neighbors enjoyed chatting with them while walking their dogs or just strolling around the neighborhood. And while many of their neighbors were successful in the entertainment industry, these two had washed ashore with the Hallyu Wave that brought K-pop and Korean culture to the west and helped bring a surge of interest.

“Do we have any coffee left?” Jimin yelled out from the kitchen.

“Just whatever’s left in the fridge,” Jeongyeon yelled back from the second floor where she was primping and fussing over her appearance. “Write it down on whiteboard, I’ll pick up it up on the way home.”

She was dressed up for the first time in a while, even had makeup on. She looked professional, but not uptight. Cool, but not flashy. It was funny how she had to balance looking like the ‘in’ crowd without being too comfortable in order to impress people here.

As she entered the kitchen, she could hear the Keurig machine pouring out its coffee into tumbler to take it to go. She squinted at the whiteboard on the fridge, half written in Korean, the other in English. He was better at English than she was.

“Ba- con? Bacon?” Jeongyeon gave him a look.

“It tastes good for breakfast!”

“It’s too salty.”

“Then get the non-salty version.”

She just shook her head with a smirk. “Your tastes are becoming American.”

“Well, when in America, do American. I’m running late, I have to go.” He screwed the lid on his coffee and flung a light jacket over his forearm as he patted himself down to check for his keys and his phone. He picked up a small duffle bag already next to the door.

“Will you be late tonight?” she asked.

“Not sure,” Jimin said, opening the door. “I think we have a meeting after practice.”

“Again?”

“You know how it is before a comeback, sweetie. Go over our schedule, what to say to which hosts, coaching some of the guys on their english.”

She shook her head in mild disbelief. BTS just kept getting bigger and bigger. They kept winning awards and their videos kept tallying up more and more views. At one point, Big Hit Entertainment decided to base the group in Los Angeles for their next comeback, in addition to producing another English album. Promotions would start in the U.S. instead of Korea. Weeks of drama on social media followed because of that announcement, but here they were doing a 2-year stint to build on BTS’ momentum in the coveted American music market while they were still hot. 

Jeongyeon leaned in to give him a light peck on the cheek, not wanting to undo up her make up. “Don’t be too late.”

Jimin held up a hand to wave as he hurried out the door, wiping his cheek from the faint lipstick mark on his cheek. “I’ll see you later!”  


* * *

“We’ve worked with some of the hottest acts in music today, not just here but in Korea, too,” said the older, blond woman. Her Korean was functional, but something about it bothered her. Like how she could have done a bit more work on the accent to make it seem less… American?

She was definitely older, though with the kind of youth-promising doctors available it was hard to tell exactly how old she was. It was quality, though - no botched procedures here. Her hair, makeup, nails were neat and looked like they were freshly done by experts. The level of polish intimidated Jeongyeon, though she was practiced at masking that.

“I know I only have a few songwriting credits but that’s why I’m looking — I think I can work with some of your producers and come up with something that will be liked here and in Korea.”

The woman smiled and gently closed the folder that detailed her experience as an artist, focusing on songwriting. “Ms. Park,” she began, not realizing that Jeongyeon didn’t take her husband’s family name. “With your _connections_ within the industry, I’m sure we can overlook a small thing like songwriting credit experience.”

Jeongyeon gave a tight smile in return even as disappointment bloomed in her chest. Her interviewer stood, so she stood up with her.

“Give us a day or two to put something together, and we’ll send it your way immediately,” she said, reaching out to shake Jeongyeon’s hand politely.

In the elevator ride down, Jeongyeon pressed her forehead on the mirrored panel and sighed. This wasn’t the first of these meetings she had been to, but they were all alike. Her ‘connections’ meant she was married to a famous idol, or her friends and colleagues back in Seoul. That’s who they wanted — a foot in the door of the popular music-makers of the day. They didn’t seem to care about her own abilities, or her own desires for a music career post-Twice.

She heaved a sigh as the elevator doors opened into the lobby. Well, maybe she could at least get started here. You had to start somewhere, right?

The Uber car smelled a bit off, but she sighed and tried to avoid breathing in too deep. 

“Where you from?”

“Sorry?” Jeongyeon said, startled out of her gloomy thoughts.

“Your accent and your name in the app,” the driver said, gesturing to one of the phones on his dashboard. “Korean, right?”

She was startled at his observation. “Yes. Um, how did you—”

“I knew it! I’ve been getting a better at recognizing the names with all the visitors lately.”

At the red light while the driver prattled on about Korean visitors, a man standing outside a cafe caught her eye. His build, his hair, and something about his profile reminded him of Jimin, but the jacket seemed different. Nah, it couldn’t be him - he was at practice, but his profile looked really similar. A young, blonde American woman came out of the cafe and greeted him with an embrace and a deep kiss.

Open physical affection was one of the many things Jeongyeon was still getting accustomed to in the United States, but something about the man bothered her and she felt an icy pit in her stomach drain the warmth from her face.

“Hey, you all right back there? You look pale.”

As soon as she got into the house, Jeongyeon pulled up Jimin’s mobile number and pressed ‘Speaker’ as she cradled the phone in her hands. It began ringing — and so did a phone upstairs! Letting the phone continue to ring, she hurried upstairs only to find their empty bedroom. She followed the sound into their walk-in closet and found his phone in another duffle bag filled with workout clothing. His phone screen had her smiling face on it, showing that she was calling. 

The icy pit in her stomach tightened.

She thumbed another number, this time one of the BTS managers she got along with.

“Jihun-ah?”

“Ah, Jeongyeon-noona! How can I help you?”

“Can you tell me what time practice finishes today?”

There was a brief pause. “They’re not practicing today. A couple of guys are in the studio re-recording some vocal tracks, but Jimin doesn’t have anything scheduled today - it’s his rest day.”

Jeongyeon slumped onto their bed. “Oh, OK, I must’ve gotten the dates mixed up, thanks,” she said and quickly hung up.

Maybe he was just working out on his own? Maybe he was doing extra practice with one of the other members? She could ask him when he got him. But how would that go? _“Hey, I saw someone who looked like you making out with a blonde girl this afternoon. Was that you by any chance?”_

Something nagged at her and she returned to the closet. _Why didn’t he bring his workout bag? Why didn’t he bring his phone? What was in the duffle bag he grabbed on his way out this morning?_

She grabbed the duffle bag and dumped its contents onto the bed and rummaged around. It was completely plausible he grabbed another bag, or used another bag for his workout. Jeongyeon took out a smaller bag and dumped its contents out. Deodorant, razor, a small container of shaving cream… cologne? And condoms?

Why did he have condoms? They were trying to have a baby. 

Shifting the clothing around she heard the crinkle of paper and found a folded sheet tucked into a shirt. It was a receipt for a 5-star hotel from last week. 

When he was ‘at practice’.

The hotel was next to the cafe she saw the Jimin doppelgänger.

The Uber cab dropped her off at the hotel and she went straight to the desk, her mind in a cold fury that threatened to flare hot. She flashed a smile at the clerk and summoned all her english training that she had put herself through the last couple of years.

“Hello. Could I get a spare key to my room? I grabbed my husband’s phone when I left to go to the cafe next door instead of the room card and he’s not here, so I can’t get back in.”

The man paused for a moment, wary. Many important people stayed at the hotel and certainly many tried to sneak into the rooms of their famous guests. He opened his mouth to say something when a younger female clerk gasped and gushed. 

“Oh my god. You’re— Jeongyeon! I love Twice! Is Jimin here, too? Oh my god!”

“You know her?” the man asked the younger clerk.

“She’s only a member of like the biggest K-pop girl group and married to Park Jimin of BTS! Don’t you know anything, Henry?”

The man barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes but typed Jimin’s name into the computer, returning a room number. He swiped an additional card while Clarice, his co-clerk, mooned over Jeongyeon who put on a patient smile. 

Jeongyeon walked down the hallway on the 12th floor pausing outside room 1212. Her heart pounded in her chest and she took deep breaths to steady herself. What if she was wrong? Pressing the card to the sensor, there was a faint whirr and click as the lock disengaged and she stepped into the suite. Her heart sank at the sound of bedsprings creaking and moans of pleasure.

She stepped into the bedroom of the suite, noting the clothing strewn from the door to the room. Milky white legs were wrapped around her husbands waist as he thrusted over and over into her. The woman’s eyes were closed as they moaned in mutual pleasure. 

“Oh yes! Jimin, harder! Har— Stop! Stop! Jimin, stop!”

She had opened her eyes and saw a furious Jeongyeon standing in the bedroom door way, holding the keycard.

Jimin stopped mid-thrust. “What’s wrong, baby?” He noticed her gaze and peered over his shoulder. “OH SHIT!” He tried to stand up quickly but only succeeded in falling off the bed. Both he and his mistress grabbed at pillows to cover themselves. “Um. It’s not what it looks like.”

Jeongyeon’s jaw hardened. “You bastard,” she growled through clenched teeth before throwing the keycard to the ground and stalking out.

“Jeongyeon, wait!” Jimin called out as he stumbled back into his clothing and ran after her. She caught the elevator that she took up and he was forced into the stairwell and ran down quickly to catch up with her in the lobby. 

Jimin grabbed her wrist. “Jeongyeon, stop, please.”

“Don’t touch me,” she said in quiet fury, shaking off his hand and continued walking.

He ran in front of her, holding out his hands to stop her. “Could you just listen to me? I can explain—”

“EXPLAIN WHAT?” Jeongyeon finally exploded, yelling in Korean. The clerks and the scattering of other guests looked up at the sudden noise. “You don’t need to explain what you and that woman were doing!”

He grabbed her arm again.

“LET. GO.”

“Jeongyeon, please—”

“Don’t touch me!”

“Jeongyeon, everyone’s looking, let’s just go—”

Everyone was looking at the couple having a very public fight. Clarice, the hotel clerk, held her phone up recording the fight even as her jaw hung wide open. 

Jimin forgot that Jeongyeon could get very physical and found himself forcefully shoved backwards. He lost his balance and felt over. A moment later he was a ball of pain as her foot made swift contact with his groin.   


* * *

Jihyo had just settled into bed for her evening ritual of catching up on a show. She and Daniel would watch one episode a night to catch up before sleeping. It gave them something to bond over and let her catch up on things shows their friends recommended. With their busy schedules, any time together was precious.

She was waiting for Daniel to finish up in the bathroom when her phone buzzed.

_Who’s texting this late?_

Jihyo picked it up, glanced at the screen. A minute later she was wearing hastily donned training clothing and out the door leaving a very confused Daniel wondering why she had to get to the airport all of a sudden.

The message was from Jeongyeon.

_“Please pick me up at the airport. I have nowhere to go.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pre-emptive apologies: Sorry, Jimin.
> 
> Also, Nayeon will be appearing, I swear!
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	3. Wake Me Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jihyo takes in an emotional refugee, while Nayeon makes an uncomfortable discovery about her date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter to finish the opening scenes.
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles

_She said I don't know if I've ever been good enough_  
_I'm a little bit rusty, and I think my head is caving in_  
_And I don't know if I've ever been really loved_  
_By a hand that's touched me_  
_Well I feel like something's gonna give_  
_And I'm a little bit angry_

"Push"  
Matchbox 20

* * *

**August, 2026**

Jihyo parked the car in short-term parking and hurried to International Arrivals. She pulled up her hood and tugged her cap low, though she knew it wouldn’t help. She was way too recognizable to hide for very long. Fortunately, it was late at night and this visit was completely unscheduled. There shouldn’t be a horde of anticipatory fans. Hopefully that would help delay their discovery. If she was lucky, she’d find Jeongyeon and exit before they got stopped. 

Times like these, she missed the large JYP staff to bubble around her against the public.

She drew a breath as the empty elevator opened to arrivals floor. Sleepy travelers were milling about looking for their luggage carousel while family and friends stared at their phones looking to connect with the recently arrived.

A hunched over figure with a tiny all-too-small case for international travel had her hood pulled up, too, and sunglasses trying in vain not draw attention to herself. A fan was moving to intercept when Jihyo got there first, took Jeongyeon’s arm and gestured to the exit.

“Hello, I’m a huge fan, could I—?”

“I’m sorry,” Jihyo began, “We need to—”

“It’s okay,” Jeongyeon said with a voice thick with barely-suppressed emotion. She gave a wan smile to the fan, someone in her early 20s and quickly scribbled a signature but waved off a selfie to the fan’s surprise. “Just not up for it tonight, I’m sorry, but thank you for your support.”

Of course, Jihyo couldn’t _not_ also give a signature, but as airport fan interactions went it was probably among the more abrupt ones she could recall having. She felt a little bad for the fan, but she could tell Jeongyeon’s emotional state was fragile. “We can have them deliver your bags later, we don’t have to wait” she murmured so as not to be overheard.

“I don’t have any bags to pick up.”

As they walked to the car, she could hear Jeongyeon’s sobbing breaths and see her trembling lips. Only once the car doors were shut and the car started did Jeongyeon completely break down. The sunglasses came off revealing bloodshot, puffy eyes from extended crying. “I didn’t know— I didn’t know who else to c-call,” she said between sobs.

“It’s okay, Jeongyeon,” Jihyo said, trying to drive and soothe simultaneously.

“S-s-she w-was y-young. And b-blonde. And American. A-and—” Words were choked off by tears.

Jihyo’s lips pursed but she said nothing. But it did explain why Jeongyeon was here instead of Los Angeles with no notice, no ride, and no luggage. She must’ve taken the very next flight to Seoul.

To Jeongyeon, the trip back at night was a blur of lights and tears. Just saying those words aloud to her friend brought back the image of her husband and that skank, all writhing and tangled limbs together. She hung her head forward, burying her face in her hands.

“Can I drive you somewhere? Your parents? Your sister?” Jihyo asked gently.

“N-no, nobody’s here,” said Jeongyeon eventually. “S-seungyeon is shooting overseas. Everyone else is in Hawaii on holiday. And I don’t have the key for… for our place here.”

“Then you’ll stay with us.”

Back the house, she found Daniel waiting up for her. He was surprised to see a weary, sniffling Jeongyeon clinging to Jihyo’s arm. They settled her into the guest room and brought her some tea with a strong shot of something in it. Jeongyeon swallowed it anyway, eager for the escape. She drifted off with a hand stroking her hair. 

“It’s okay. You’re home now.”  


* * *

Nayeon lay in the bed, planning her next move. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done this before. She was quite good at the early exit and avoidance of awkward post-hookup conversation. She was on her side with her date’s arm loosely around her waist while he spooned her. Gently she lifted up the wrist and prepared to shift out of bed.

A soft chuckle sounded behind her.

 _Shit, he’s awake._ She slowly turned around to see her date propped up on an elbow, looking at her with amusement.

“I guess the rumors are true. You don’t stay longer than a night.”

“Well—” Nayeon began but was cut off with a laugh from him.

“Don’t worry about it. I knew what it meant when I invited you here last night.” The sheets shifted as he sat up and pushed his bedhead hair out of his face. He was pretty cute disheveled, Nayeon had to admit. “Besides, you know the life of a trainee. We’re not supposed to date.”

“Trainee?!”

“Who did you think my friends were?” he asked with another laugh. 

“I thought— I thought you were university students,” Nayeon said lamely. _This could be really bad._

“Nah. We’re all trainees. P-Nation. This is our dorm. It was my birthday, so the guys let me have the room to myself for the night. They thought I should, you know, lose my virginity.”

“Glad I could help,” Nayeon said weakly as she held up the bedsheet to her chest and glanced around for her clothes. In the harsh light of day, she would definitely have not mistaken this for anything but a trainee dorm room. At the club, they seemed like a rowdy group of friends; he was the cutest, so she let him flirt with her.

“Be honest, you only wanted a night of fun, too, right? You know, that thing you did with your tongue… ah-ma-zing. As a gentleman, I should return the favor…” He ducked beneath the covers.

“Ah, no, that’s not really necessary—” She tried to recall his name, but it didn’t come to mind as he settled between her legs. She lost her train of thought as his tongue began its work. Nayeon fell back onto the bed as her knees rose.

_Well, one last bit of fun couldn’t hurt._

“Mmm, don’t stop,” she groaned, but his head emerged from under the sheets with a finger to his very damp lips, his head cocked. He held motionless listening for something until a thunderous pounding sounded on the door that startled both of them.

“Manager’s back early, you gotta get her out of here, now!” said the voice on the other side of the door.

_Shiiiit!_

A comedy ensued as the two of them scrambled for clothing, each grabbing the other’s before throwing them at one another and pulling on bits haphazardly. 

“He must’ve come back early for my birthday,” he said.

Nayeon paused as a thought came to her. “Hey, listen, please tell me that you’re—”

“Nineteen. I turned nineteen yesterday. That’s why we were at the club. Hurry!”

She breathed a sigh of relief. At least this fling was only inappropriate, not illegal. There were now sounds of voices outside as the other trainees ran interference for the two in the room. Nayeon looked around for another exit. “Uh—”

“The window! We’re on the ground floor, quick!”

“The window?! Wait a minute—”

“No time, hurry!”

In normal circumstances, him handling a sunbaenim of Nayeon’s stature like that would be incredibly rude but as neither of them wanted to get caught, she basically let him push her out the window into the bushes. 

Barefoot. Her shoes were by the entrance.

_Well, this walk of shame just got a lot less comfortable. He might get in trouble anyway. Managers have a nose for anything out of place and red women’s shoes definitely would be out of place there._

Remembering that a friend lived close by, Nayeon gingerly hurried in the early morning light, wincing as pebbles pricked at her bare soles. 

Then, as if the universe was laughing at her, the skies quickly darkened and a crack of thunder pealed out to announce a downpour of rain. Nayeon was quickly soaked through when she reached her destination only a couple of minutes away. She rang the bell repeatedly but it went unanswered. She plucked her phone out of her soaking purse - dead, out of battery. Of course.

Nayeon leaned her back on the door with a resigned sigh. There was no way she could get back home without being seen barefoot and soaking wet. _Fuck. Fuckfuckfuuuuuu—_

The door suddenly opened. Losing her balance at the unexpected motion, Nayeon fell flat on her back staring up at a confused-looking Yeri wondering why a shoeless, soaking wet friend in a red cocktail dress was lying on her floor early in the morning. A hand covered a giggle. “Out for an early morning walk, Nayeon? Or a very late one?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now you know what Nayeon's been up to. The stage is set!


	4. Young and Wild

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeongyeon dreams of the past and how she and Jihyo bonded unexpectedly over Nayeon’s first boyfriend. In the present, fallout from Jeongyeon’s flight from L.A.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Courtesy head's up: Nayeon and Jeongyeon are still sailing on other ships in this chapter.

_Love me, love me, say that you love me_  
_Fool me, fool me, go on and fool me_  
_Love me, love me, pretend that you love me_  
_Leave me, leave me, just say that you need me_

“Lovefool”  
The Cardigans

* * *

  
**August, 2014**

The sounds of chatter, excitement, and merriment were loud in the air as Jeongyeon approached the party location. Friends of friends within the group of trainees across multiple agencies acquired a mansion just outside Seoul for a summer get-together. To be invited meant you were part of the elite group of trainees who were considered being groomed for debut soon, or had recently debuted. 

These were all friends here. Chaeyoung spotted her first, all abuzz. “You’re here!”

She gave her small fellow trainee a quick hug and looked around the spacious house. “Where is everyone?”

“Mostly out back by the pool or in the pool house. Oh, you have to leave your phone here,” Chaeyoung said, pointing to an attendant staffing what looked like a coat room. Jeongyeon looked surprised, but handed it over and received a temp bracelet with a lockbox number and key. “It’s so there won’t be any photos that leak.”

“Is everyone here?” And by everyone, she was asking about a specific someone.

“Some of those new rookie groups are here! BTS and Red Velvet. I saw Jihyo-unnie doing karaoke earlier, too. Killing it as usual. How was your family visit?”

Jeongyeon answered in semi-distracted manner which Chaeyoung mistook it for being impressed by the house as they walked through. In reality she was feeling butterflies in her stomach. During her trip home, she realized she had been in love with one of her best friends and fellow trainee. And how she completely lacked the courage to do anything about it.

The time home gave her some room to think about it and to work herself up to do something about it. This upcoming year would be different; she could feel it in her bones. She was on track to debut with five other girls soon. It was complicated - she didn’t want to destroy her career before it got started, or her friendship. 

But these feelings couldn’t be denied any longer.

“Is Nayeon-unnie here?” Jeongyeon asked at last.

“Yeah. But I wouldn’t expect to see much of her today, though.”

“Why not?”

Chaeyoung gave her a look with that furrowed brow of hers. “You haven’t heard? She and Namjoon-sunbaenim are dating. I mean, quietly of course, but they’ve been seeing each other a lot while you were out.”

Jeongyeon, who had paused in front of a wall-sized mirror to adjust her hair, felt like she had just been punched in the stomach. She was breathless for a long moment. Of course, they knew one another. She, Nayeon, and Namjoon - RM to the fans - all went to the same high school together.

“I’m guessing she’s not at dorms much, then,” she said in a voice she hoped sounded neutral enough.

“Well, yes, but it also means she’s not doing any of her chores either which I don’t think is fair. I guess this your warning that it’s a bit messy.”

She wasn’t really listening to Chaeyoung as they stepped back into the daylight of the back of the mansion where the pool was, the sounds of laughter, splashing, and chatter of teens and twenty-somethings danced in the air. The mood was festive, a chance to blow off steam from their relentless practice schedules - or in the case of the newly debuted groups, endless shooting and promotional schedules. Jeongyeon was now dreading a reunion with someone who, just a moment ago, she had been desperately looking forward to seeing.

The pool area and pool house buzzed with activity, young idols and idols-to-be chatting, flirting, and laughing with one another. Nayeon, Jihyo, and a few other folks from their agency were chatting together. On seeing Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung, Nayeon flashed a broad grin.

“Jeongyeon!” She waved like a maniac and hurried over. A moment later a wet inflatable ball beaned her in the back of the head. Nayeon turned to scowl at Yeri who was in the pool snickering behind her hand. 

Jihyo reached them first and gave Jeongyeon a hug. “You’re back!”

“Someone has to keep you from forgetting your practice schedule.” Jeongyeon grinned.

Just then, Nayeon shoved Jihyo aside and gave Jeongyeon an enthusiastic hug. Jeongyeon couldn’t help but return it. Despite her mixed feelings, she really did miss her friends. “You just want her to keep the rooms clean,” she laughed, flashing her bunny-like smile.

Jeongyeon gently rapped her knuckles on Nayeon’s head. “Good thing the ball was only filled with air.”

“Yeah, just like her head!” Jihyo shot back with a mischievous smile. That lead to a chase scene around the pool while Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung doubled over in laughter.

“Jeongyeon-ah. Good to see you,” a smooth male voice said behind her. Jeongyeon turned to see the object of Nayeon’s desires, looking way too cool for her liking. Wearing flip-flops, bermuda shorts and a polo shirt, he exuded confidence that came with being elevated to ‘debuted artist’.

“Hello,” she replied with a polite bow. “Congratulations. I don’t think I’ve seen you since you graduated.”

“Thanks. I hear you might be debuting soon?”

“Hopefully. The schedule’s being finalized, or so I’m told. Sometimes I feel like they’re dragging it out just to watch us suffer.”

“I know what you mean.” Namjoon flashed a smile and Jeongyeon hated herself for a moment when she could see what might attract Nayeon to him. “Will you be joining us next weekend? We have a party. Smaller than this, but you’re certainly invited.”

“Uh—”

“Yes, come with us!” That was Nayeon, who had abandoned her chase around the pool and now clung to Namjoon’s arm.

“What kind of party?”

“Fewer trainees. Mostly those of us who’ve debuted. Or are about to. We can share stories,” he answered.

Jeongyeon merely nodded, which she meant to be non-committal but which Nayeon took for agreement. 

“Great! Hey, it’s your song, teach it to me!” Nayeon tugged her new boyfriend over to a space cleared out where people were dancing. Jeongyeon soon found herself alone as Chaeyoung had wandered off to chat with a few of the younger trainees.

“Hey, you should dance, too!” Jihyo found her and a bottle of something was in her hand. She shoved a shot glass into Jeongyeon’s hand and poured out some amber liquid.

“We can’t drink this!” she looked around, expecting one of the trainee managers to pounce from behind a well-manicured shrub.

“Nobody from the agency is here. Don’t you want to see what it’s like? They have beer, too, if you’d prefer. C’mon, we’re going to be super busy soon, this might be the last time we get to blow off some steam.”

Glancing over at the dance floor where Nayeon and Namjoon were grinding shamelessly, Jeongyeon nodded and threw back the shot with a grimace. With Jihyo, they went back to the self-serve bar and instead mixed together something fruity, more to their tastes. 

It turned out that getting in front of your peers and dancing was a lot easier after a few more drinks. Jeongyeon’s clouded mood even lifted as she was cheered on as she did really absurd takes on the popular dances of the day — including BTS’s. In her befuddled mind, it was her way to say ‘take that!’ to Nayeon’s new arm candy. She made a number of new acquaintances that day — some she even remembered when she sobered up.

She was chatting to another trainee when they were bumped from behind and spilled their drink on Jeongyeon’s shirt. She was already starting to feel dizzy from the heat and drinks, so she excused herself to find a washroom to relieve herself and splash water on her face.

Despite the house’s size, the party attendees managed to fill all the lower-floor washrooms. Impatient, she hurried up the circular staircase to the bedrooms, figuring they were large enough to each have their own facilities. There were multiple doors down the long hallway The first door was a closet. The second door was a bedroom though as soon as she opened it a voice sounded, “Room’s occupied!”

“Sorry!” She hastily shut the door and reached for the third door, this time opening it carefully. 

It was a washroom all right, but Jeongyeon wished she never found it.

It was spacious and well-mirrored; she could see the image of Nayeon seated on the counter with her blouse open. Namjoon’s face was glued to hers, her legs were around his waist and his hands were up her skirt. They didn’t even seem to hear the door open.

Jeongyeon gasped in shock and quickly ran out and back down the hallway, and whatever buoyancy being tipsy brought quickly crashed as her mood darkened. Back at the party, she grabbed a bottle of whiskey sitting on the lap of someone passed out on a couch. She took a gulp straight from the bottle, feeling it burn all the way down. 

_She’ll never see me more than jokey Jeongyeon. She’ll ever touch me the way he was touching her_. She stopped at the mirror where Chaeyoung inadvertently told her Nayeon was dating and stared at a scowling version of herself and barked a bitter laugh. _Would anyone ever like me that way?_

It was almost impossible to find a quiet spot to drink. Party-goers were everywhere. Eventually she found that the pool house had a loft with a window that opened to the roof. She heard sobbing and, curious who else might be feeling like she did, climbed out only to find a familiar-looking trainee that she had met in previous gatherings.

Jennie, a YG trainee, was as alone as someone could get at this party, facing the hillside where nobody could see her. Her knees were drawn up and her forehead rested on her arms as she quietly cried.

“You sound like how I feel,” said Jeongyeon, plopping down next to her.

Jennie gasped at being discovered and blinked away tears. She sniffled a response. “Y-you too?”

Jeongyeon took another gulp, winced at the taste, and held out the bottle to Jennie. The other girl considered it, then took a swig of her own, making the same face.

“So what has you up here alone?”

Jennie sighed, and hiccuped from the booze. “I don’t think we’re ever going to debut. It just seems so… endless.”

“Ah.”

“What about you?”

“I, uh, found out some news I wasn’t expecting.”

The two trainees quietly shared the bottle, despite the burning with each swallow. Eventually, a loud whooping and hollering sounded and they both got up and swayed to the other side of the pool house to see what was going on. Some members of BTS were doing an impromptu performance of their debut track.

The sound soon changed as people noticed them on the roof. Cries of ‘jump!’ and surprise were mixed, washing over a more-than-tipsy Jeongyeon.

“Oh my god!”

“Jennie, jump in the pool!”

“Jeongyeon, get down from there!” Jihyo yelled.

“They’re not going to jump, Jennie’s a chicken.”

On the roof, Jennie and Jeongyeon exchanged a glance. “I hate how everyone thinks I’m a scaredy-cat,” Jennie muttered.

A thought burrowed into Jeongyeon’s head and she took Jennie’s hand. “Come on, let’s start walking back to the loft.” As they got halfway back, she turned around and pointed. “We’ll have more of a running start,” she grinned. And before either of them could really consider the stupidity of the situation they took off running, holding hands, and leapt.

They experienced the euphoria of weightlessness, that moment between leaving solid ground, before gravity exerted its authority and pulled them back down. They arced off the roof and free-fell into the cool water of the pool. The crowd’s noise suddenly muted in the water as Jeongyeon let herself sink to the bottom of the pool. She could hear the muffled shouts, followed by the distinctive ‘booms’ of others diving into the water. She smiled, watching the play of bubbles rising out of the water to the surface. For a few seconds, she was alone with her thoughts before feeling arms reach around her and tugged her back to the surface.

It was an odd baptism, but Jeongyeon felt different as she broke the surface and took a breath. Something of old Jeongyeon got left behind, washed away with her reckless jump.

“You scared the shit out of me,” said a familiar voice. Jeongyeon opened her eyes to see Jihyo’s large eyes narrowed in worry. She had her arms around Jeongyeon. They were wading in the pool while a second swimmer who helped pull her up went to help Jennie who was flaying about considerably more. 

Jeongyeon could only laugh and touched her forehead to Jihyo’s as the motion of waves pushed them towards the edge. Jihyo grabbed one edge, but still had one arm tightly around Jeongyeon’s waist, their faces only inches apart. Their eyes met and Jihyo’s widened before looking away quickly. 

“We should go. I should get Nayeon—” Jihyo began.

“I don’t want Nayeon.”

The second she said, she realized she didn’t want Nayeon any more. She wanted Jihyo to look at her like that again. It tickled something in her. That look made her feel beautiful. Desired. She had no idea Jihyo had been watching her watch Nayeon, watching her disappointment that she was with someone else. That she wanted to be wanted, too, jealous of the attention Nayeon was getting. Jihyo looked at her, held her gaze and broke it off again. Jeongyeon felt disappointment at the apparent rejection.

“Let’s get out of the pool. We should go home,” Jihyo said.

“Um. Well... I’m wearing white.” Jeongyeon’s cheeks heated as she realized how exposed she’d be as soon as she got out.

Glancing around, Jihyo found a discarded towel and they managed to climb out and keep Jeongyeon covered. Several people congratulated Jeongyeon on her jump as Jihyo navigated her out of the house, collected their phones and began the walk back to dorms. 

The apartments were unusually quiet with most of the older trainees still at the party. Jihyo escorted the still-drunk Jeongyeon to her room to find some dry clothing but she froze suddenly and just stood in the middle of the room.

“Jihyo? What’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer. Instead she turned around, reached for Jeongyeon and kissed her. A quick inhaled breath was Jeongyeon’s response, but it passed quickly and she responded. Eager. Hungry for the affection she was denied earlier in the day.

They kissed harder, until they stumbled into the door, which one of them blindly reached out to shut, then they were pressed against it. Jihyo’s kisses and touches were awakening her emerging desires, one she hoped to explore with Nayeon, but as the old song went: _if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with_.

Shucking their wet clothing, they stumbled into the lower bunkbed, hot flesh pressing against another’s for the first time in their lives, fingers and lips teasing, stroking, licking, piercing, causing sensations and feelings to burst forth in a cry of release. They finished with Jihyo on top, stroking the hair out of Jeongyeon’s eyes. With a tender kiss, Jihyo rolled off and pulled a blanket up. They hadn’t said a word the entire time.  


* * *

**August, 2026**

Her dreams were filled with old memories, old hurts and old wants. Of her being together with another, years ago.

Jeongyeon slowly came to consciousness and looked at an unfamiliar ceiling. Despite getting extra rest, she still felt a bit wrung out and her tongue felt thick with tannins of whatever alcohol Jihyo fed her the previous night.

_Ah. Jihyo’s. I’m back in Seoul. Maybe that’s why I was remembering her in my dreams._

“With your eyes closed, you’re a regular sleeping beauty.”

Jeongyeon turned her head to see Jihyo seated on a chair next to the bed, an iPad on her lap. She flashed her host a wry look. “That’s how I know I’m in trouble.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re actually complimenting me instead of telling me I’m ugly.”

Jihyo flashed a grin and swatted Jeongyeon’s foot. “Then get your ugly butt cleaned up and come downstairs. It’s time you ate something. I brought you some stuff to wear.”

There was something comfortable in their dynamic, like an old shirt. Worn in, a little faded, but always a go-to when life got a little crazy. Compliments weren’t how they expressed their friendship; teasing was. Although her emotions were still frayed, the comfort of Jihyo’s presence calmed those raw nerves in a way that few people could.

Showered and wearing some comfortable training clothing borrowed from Jihyo, she felt better. For a moment, she was surprised to see Daniel until her brain reminded her that he and Jihyo had been living together for years now. She gave a short bow in greeting.

“I’m so sorry to barge in like this.”

“No, no, you’re very welcome here,” he said, gesturing for her to have a seat at the table. “Our door is always welcome to Twice members.”

“Yeah, if it became locked, he’d be on the other side,” Jihyo called out from the kitchen where she was preparing something. Daniel and Jeongyeon shared a small smile. Jihyo plated some reheated leftovers in front of Jeongyeon who found herself ravenous. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast the previous day, in L.A.

It was quiet while Jeongyeon ate and when she pushed aside an empty plate, Jihyo and Daniel glanced at one another, nodded and gave their guest a careful look. 

“Jeongyeon, you should know that social media already has news about you.”

She shouldn’t have been surprised. She wasn’t, really. 

“I guess I’m not a completely washed up singer yet,” Jeongyeon sighed. “How bad?”

“Well… there’s video of you in L.A. And us at the airport last night.” Jihyo slid her iPad over with Twitter already up. She flicked the screen to show the feed, already pre-filtered with her name. A jerky video of her yelling at Jimin right before she shoved him and kicked him in the jimmies was shared over and over. Another tweet had a translation of the bits that could be heard. It didn’t take much to gather what their fight was about. A video of her and Jihyo leaving the airport. Even to her eyes, she looked like hell in the airport photos.

Countless tweets speculated on who the other woman was. An old girlfriend. American celebrities. Even other Twice members. Militant Army members blamed Jeongyeon to defend their precious Jimin. Onces shot back defending her and pointing out how uncharacteristic her behavior was, and so must be Jimin’s fault.

In short, it was already a shitshow. 

“What was he thinking?” asked Daniel.

“He was thinking with the wrong head, that’s what,” Jihyo snorted. 

“I’m so sorry to drag you all into this. You’re going to get bombarded with questions about me now. Both of you will.”

Jihyo waved dismissively. “We can handle it. The real question is, what are you going to do now?”

Jeongyeon didn’t have an answer to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shipping head fake. This Jeongyeon has had a far more dramatic and complicated love life.
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	5. Signal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nayeon receives an unlikely call and is reminded how Jeongyeon and Jimin first met.

_I wish I could go back to college_  
_Life was so simple back then_  
_What would I give to go back_  
_And live in a dorm with a meal plan again!_  
_I wish I could go back to college_  
_In college you know who you are_  
_You sit in the quad, and think, "Oh my God!_  
_I am totally gonna go far!"_  
_How do I go back to college?_  
_I don't know who I am anymore!_

“I Wish I Could Go Back to College”  
Avenue Q

* * *

**August 2026**

After her evening of debaunchery, Nayeon felt the need to distract herself from the close call of their discovery. What better way than to get in a workout and practice her latest routine at the same time? So she headed for The Loft.

The Loft was home to Twice members’ workspace. Originally discovered by Chaeyoung, who was looking for a studio to house her art projects but still have enough space for composing and a few instruments that helped with that. She found a warehouse with a large unused loft that was far too large for her needs, but the management was a huge fan of Twice - he offered rates that were far too attractive to not consider. Generate revenue from unused space and have Twice under his roof? It was a no-brainer for him.

Chaeyoung went to the others to find someone to go in with her to use the space. Without their contracts at JYP, they could no longer call on its resources. It turned out that Momo and Sana were thinking of partnering up to form a dance studio to train novice dancers and to choreograph for experienced ones, and so needed space. Dahyun needed some practice space for her own work on music arrangements. The four of them pooled money to renovate the space into several dance and music studio rooms with ample room for meetings with potential clients. They even put in showers for Momo and Sana. 

Before long Mina joined them, claiming one of the studio rooms as her streaming room. Like many idols before her, she moved online and became one of the best known erstwhile K-pop idols with a streaming career. She could finally meld her love of gaming with her introverted nature to earn an income. Occasionally she did dance studios videos to remind everyone she was a professional dancer for many years, while Twice members sometimes showed up to play a game or chat with Mina and Onces.

In their own way, they built a miniature version of what they had at JYP, though with far fewer people. One receptionist and an office manager was the extent of their staff. Everything else was DIY.

There was an open invitation for the rest of Twice to use the facilities. Nayeon and Jihyo took advantage of the space when it wasn’t booked, while Tzuyu rarely stopped by. Jeongyeon had only been there once when it opened.

Dressed in comfortable training clothing, Nayeon headed to the room with her name on it. Similar to JYP, rooms were named and since it was Twice’s loft space, the rooms were named after each of them. Four dance rooms of various sizes named after the four eldest Twice members. The next five were studio rooms for singing and practicing instruments. Mina and Chaeyoung tended to be the sole occupants of their respectively named rooms, while the largest meeting room was named ‘Once’.

An electronic sign next to the door indicated the schedule for the room and Nayeon noticed that ‘PN’ was booked to begin shortly. Nayeon frowned - both at ‘her’ space being booked on a weekend, and wondering who PN was. She wandered back into the lobby to look for someone to ask, but the receptionist wasn’t working that day. That’s when she spotted Chaeyoung exiting the washrooms. 

“Ah! Chaeyoungie! Can tell me, who’s PN? They’ve booked my room today.”

Chaeyoung’s brow furrowed as it did when she was thinking or just evaluating something like good food. “PN? Oh! Yeah, P-Nation asked for some extra time this weekend for their trainees. Their building is still pretty small, so they rent from us every once in a while. Works out great because it’s cheaper for them than getting another building and makes us extra income.”

P-Nation? There’s _no way_ it could mean—

Just then, the sound of a boisterous group coming up the stairs to the loft sounded outside the front door and came in. A group of young men that Nayeon recognized from the club, one in particular. Most of them recognized her, too, but covered their surprise with quick bows to their sunbaenim. There was a chorus of ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’ with bows on both sides. 

Chaeyoung pointed to the hallway with the dance studios. “You boys are in _Nayeon_ this morning.”

The phrasing caused Nayeon to wince as the trainees headed off in a noisy, chattering cloud. One of them, who Chaeyoung recognized as the maknae of the trainees, lingered and looked at Nayeon with an odd expression. Nayeon was actually blushing.

“Nayeon-unnie, this is Yejun, he’s—”

“We’ve met,” said Nayeon, cutting Chaeyoung off. _So that’s his name._ She looked at him. “So, tell me, did you get in trouble?”

A blush on his cheeks mirrored hers. “No. Junseo hid your shoes… well, in the garbage. Our manager never saw them.”

Nayeon grimaced. “I don’t suppose I could get them back?”

Yejun shook his head. “We had to pretend to clean up the place so… they actually got thrown out. I’m sorry.”

Nayeon heaved a sigh and then waved dismissively. “Go on, go practice.”

The teen bowed once more to each of them and hurried off. Nayeon turned only to find Chaeyoung staring at her with her jaw dropped as the conversation’s meaning sank in.

“It’s not what it sounds like.”

Chaeyoung’s brow quirked upwards in disbelief.

“OK, it’s exactly what it sounds like.”

“ _Nayeon-unnie!_ ” Chaeyoung was shocked. “He’s so young! What is he, twelve?”

“Nineteen, thank you very much.” Then in a softer voice. “At least as of yesterday.”

“Oh. My. God.”

“Can we talk about something else?” Nayeon shoved Chaeyoung towards her studio room to get out of earshot from anyone else who might be around.

“Your dating life is never boring.”

With her plans to not think about her latest ‘conquest’ ruined, thanks to said conquest being in the practice rooms, Nayeon went off to the kitchens to prepare a cup of coffee. Sitting down at one of the tables, she pulled out her phone to take an obligatory selfie and thumb through some social media before figuring out how else to spend her morning - preferably not at the Loft.

Just as she lifted the cup to her lips, Twitter loaded and she noticed that Jimin was trending in Korea. Frowning, she tapped it.

PFFFFFFFTTT!

Nayeon sprayed coffee all over her phone, the table, and the chair across from her. Dropping her cup on the table, she hastily wiped off her screen with her sleeve and stared open-mouthed at why he was trending. 

A public fight? Cheating? Jeongyeon was back in Seoul? _What the hell?!_

An incredulous Nayeon skimmed the posts and tweets until she saw one where a semi-disguised Jihyo escorted Jeongyeon out of the airport. _I’m going to call her and see what in the world is going on._

Just then, her phone buzzed as it alerted her to an incoming video call request from an American number. She vaguely recognized the country and area code as coming from Los Angeles and wondered if it was Jeongyeon actually reaching out to her. She pressed the accept button and saw the face of the very last person she expected.

“ARE YOU CRAZY?!” she yelled at her phone with Jimin’s face on it, the target of her rage causing her to grip the phone and shake it as she vented. “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO JEONGYEON?! ARE YOU IN SEOUL BECAUSE I’M GOING TO FIND YOU AND KICK YOU!”

“Jeongyeon already did that, thanks,” Jimin said, shifting uncomfortably. “Look, can you… like, calm down, please, Nayeon-ah?”

Nayeon took a bit longer than that for her anger to lower to merely a smoldering ember and settled for scowling. Even Twice members rarely witnessed Nayeon’s wrath, and the public certainly would never have been exposed to it. But for Jimin, she spared nothing. “Well? What do you want?” she asked bluntly, channeling a little Tzuyu in her ungracious question.

“Look, I just— do you know if— Is she all right?” he asked at last.

Nayeon blinked. _This is why he called me?_ “How the hell should I know?”

“You mean… she didn’t go to see you?”

“Why would she come to see me?”

“Well, I just figured that if—” Jimin stopped, realizing that the conversation was not getting the answer he was expecting. “Sorry. I assumed she would—”

 _Fly to my arms?_ Nayeon thought. She didn’t say it, though they were both thinking it.

“She’s not at her parents, they’re not picking up,” he continued. “From her sister’s Instagram, it looks like they’re in Hawaii and still touring. I don’t think she’s told them. If she’s not with you then… wait, is she with Jihyo?”

“I don’t know,” Nayeon said after an uncomfortably long pause. It was the truth, even if she highly suspected it. “But if she is, you probably shouldn’t go there. Jihyo will be in mama bear mode and will likely maul you.”

“Look,” Jimin began, actually sounding desperate. “She’s not answering my calls or my texts. It’s a huge favor to ask, but… could you talk to her for me? Convince her to talk to me?”

“I don’t think so,” Nayeon replied, looking offscreen, her scowl replaced with a frown. “I haven’t spoken to her in a couple of years now.”

“Oh.”

White noise from a buzzing light needing replacement in the Loft’s kitchen filled the call with white noise as both Nayeon and Jimin fell silent.

“How did you get my number?”

“Namjoon-hyung got it for me. I didn’t ask how.”

 _Namjoon. We dated briefly years ago, why does he still have my number?_ “Why call me?”

“Honestly? I thought she’d go running to you. Because you two—”

“Yeah.” She cut him off.

“I guess things change after all. Well, thanks for taking my call.” The phone cut back to her icon screen as he abruptly ended the call.

“Never did like you,” Nayeon muttered as she drifted into a memory.

* * *

**September, 2014**

“Let’s go, hurry up!” Jihyo turned and beckoned everyone falling behind the pace she set. 

Nayeon and Jihyo had raced up to the private box where they had reserved seating for the party of idols and up-and-comers so as not take away from the focus of tonight’s showcase of SM up-and-coming talent, culminating with Red Velvet. As promised, Yeri had wheedled and charmed space for people she had befriended, even though she’d spend most of the time away for her own stage performance.

“These seats are great!” Nayeon exclaimed as she took a front row in the box with her face beaming in pleasure. Namjoon took the seat next to her and casually draped his arm over her shoulder. Jihyo was on Namjoon's other side while Jeongyeon and a couple of others sat behind them.

“We’ve been so busy lately,” Namjoon was saying to her as he moved closer than necessary to be heard. Nuzzling her ear, he said, “Tell me about Red Velvet’s debut, what do you like about it?”

Nayeon heard a distinctive snort of disapproval that, even without turning around, she knew was from Jeongyeon. She ignored it and went on to talk to her boyfriend. It was a magical word, _boyfriend_. It went around trainee gossip circles like wildfire. Who had one? Who was it? Have you done it yet? Nayeon could finally answer those questions: She did, a hot newly debuted idol, and _ohmygodyes_.

She thought she was being stealthy about her _appointments_ to see Namjoon, but Sana of all people cornered her one day about it. The fellow trainee was uncharacteristically serious and worried about Nayeon jeopardizing her future and throwing away her years of training. At first, Nayeon was shocked at just how well Sana correctly deduced what she was up to, but she assured Sana she was fine and being careful. Sana was quiet before nodding and said, ‘Okay. If you say so. Please stay safe.’ She pressed something into Nayeon’s hand and quickly left. Nayeon was shocked to find herself holding a condom. Sana’s intuition was something to be feared.

After the show, Yeri came back to lead the group backstage to meet the SM performers. In addition to Namjoon, several other BTS members were there. Yeri seemed to know everybody and made introductions all around. One of the younger BTS members was paying attention to Yeri as she introduced the JYP group.

“You know Nayeon-unnie, this is Jihyo-unnie who’s been at JYP forever now, and this is Jeongyeon-unnie—” Yeri was saying.

“Yes, the one at the party with the… unique interpretation to our choreo,” he said with a grin. Jeongyeon had the grace to look embarrassed, particularly since she recalled being pretty drunk at the time. “I’m Jimin. I especially liked what you did to my parts.”

Jeongyeon gave a bow, feeling the heat on her face. That party had complicated her life in more ways than one. “Sorry about that. I, uh… yeah.” She really didn’t have an excuse she could vocalize, given that her intent was to ridicule BTS.

Nayeon was enjoying meeting and chatting with her peers while they pressed her on what JYP’s plans were for her and the others there. She nearly forgot about Jeongyeon until an hour into the meet-and-greet she glanced over to her. She was _still_ chatting with Jimin. What could they possibly be talking about? Surely that ridiculous take on _No More Dream_ wasn’t that deep a subject? Wait… did Jeongyeon just blush? Nayeon had to see what was going on.

“So with a debut hopefully coming out soon, I keep hearing that it’s important to stay fit because of all the performances you’ll have to do,” Jeongyeon was saying.

Jimin nodded knowingly. “Yeah, and depending on how many award shows your management book you for, it could be more than once a day. I’d say a good cardio workout. I could show you my routine if you like.”

Jeongyeon smiled, which brought a frown to Nayeon’s lips. “Wow, that would be great, thank you. I—”

“She hates to work out,” Nayeon said with a bit more edge than she intended to be heard. She had approached Jeongyeon from behind, startling her and causing her drink to spill onto Jimin’s shirt.

Looking horrified, Jeongyeon bit her lip and grabbed at some napkins nearby just as Jimin did, causing their fingers to brush. Nayeon noted a momentary pause as their eyes met. Her eyes narrowed.

“Let me help,” Jeongyeon said, patting down Jimin’s abs.

“Jeongyeon, I think he can dry himself,” Nayeon said, reaching for Jeongyeon’s wrist. But if there was one thing Jeongyeon wouldn’t let go, it was a mess, especially one that was her doing. As the napkins soaked up the liquid, she naturally patted downwards towards his waist until reaching the belt at his jeans where she stopped and blushed red. Several others who noticed the commotion made whistles and catcalls, teasing them both.

Jihyo gently extracted Jeongyeon from the situation. “I think he can get the rest.” Jeongyeon just bowed while stammering further apologies to a grinning Jimin. “We have to get going now before our curfew.”

Nayeon made a mental note to thank Jihyo in some way — discreetly — for her intervention. She was about to leave when Jimin reached out to her before she walked way. “Um, Nayeon-ah? Wait a sec. Could you give this to Jeongyeon ssi to me, please?” He held out a napkin with a number and his name on it. 

“Sure,” Nayeon said with a plastic smile.

Jimin flashed a wide grin and called out goodbyes to everyone leaving. Nayeon’s lips tightened when Jeongyeon smiled and waved back. Once outside, she crumpled the napkin and tossed it into the bushes.

_Jeongyeon could do a lot better than dance boy._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The universe (aka the author) does love poking at Nayeon. 
> 
> Because I think way too much about such things, here's how I pictured the Loft in my head: https://twitter.com/DriveByDrabbles/status/1316082746180030464?s=20
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	6. Like a Fool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nayeon and Jeongyeon's first meeting in years goes poorly. Fallout from the summer party of 2014.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Without spoiling too much, there’s a part where Mina talks about her mental health hiatus in 2019. I wrote this section before news broke from JYP about Jeongyeon’s hiatus. See end notes for my thoughts.

_Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?_  
_I see the way you're_  
_Actin' like you're somebody else, gets me frustrated_  
_Life's like this, you_  
_And you fall, and you crawl, and you break_  
_And you take what you get_  
_And you turn it into honesty_  
_And promise me, I'm never gonna find you fake it_  
_No, no, no_

"Complicated"  
Avril Lavigne  


* * *

**August, 2026**

“You want me to talk to him? I’m supposed to head over to America next month, anyway.”

Jeongyeon was sitting at the table with Jihyo and Daniel contemplating what she was going to do next. She fled with no plans and as much as she didn’t want it spreading, social media had already run away with it. Daniel had just asked her the question - it turned out he was scheduled to open for a concert series headlined by BTS in the United States for the fall.

“No,” Jeongyeon shook her head. “If I want to talk to him, I know his number. Well. Maybe. Did I tell you he got a second phone so I wouldn’t notice incoming texts from his mistress?” She winced at saying the word aloud. It was the first time she acknowledge what that other woman was.

Jihyo crossed her arms with an irritated sound and sounded like she was going to say something more when the door rang. She got up only to find Chaeyoung.

“Hi,” she said with a small smile. Then after a moment hurried over to Jeongyeon and enveloped her in a hug. “You’re back.”

Another wave of emotion washed over Jeongyeon as she held onto her smallest teammate. She wasn’t sure what everyone else’s reaction would be to her return. She blinked away tears that formed as she held Chaeyoung at arm’s length; today’s bohemian look was both new and classic and typically Chaeyoung. 

“What brings you here today?” asked Jihyo.

“I heard Jeongyeon was back, indirectly.”

“Indirectly?”

“Nayeon-unnie was at the Loft today and her last conversation was… very loud. It wasn’t a very good morning for her after—” Chaeyoung stopped, realizing what she was about to reveal.

“After what?” Jihyo prodded.

“I really can’t say, you’ll have to ask her,” Chaeyoung said, quickly moving on. “But I overheard her talking—yelling, really— to…” She looked at Jeongyeon. “Uh, Jimin-sunbaenim.”

It was quiet for a moment. “What?!” Jeongyeon exploded. “Why did he— why was she— why were they talking? About me?”

Chaeyoung held up her hands to a calm down gesture. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I was in the lounge while Nayeon-unnie was in the kitchen. A call came in and it was him. He wanted to get someone to convince you to talk to him. Nayeon told him she couldn’t do that. The call didn’t last long beyond that.”

Nobody needed explain why. Nayeon and Jeongyeon were on frosty terms for a while now; Twice members stepped around the issue by not mentioning the other in their presence. At least until now.

“Just great,” Jeongyeon grunted. “I don’t know if I really want to see how much of a mess this is, but I’m getting my phone.”

Jihyo watched Jeongyeon head up the stairs and when she was out of earshot, muttered, “I knew something would happen.”

“You knew Jimin would cheat on her?” Chaeyoung asked, quirking a skeptical brow.

“I told her she didn’t love him enough to marry him. You don’t think he felt that? That her heart didn’t completely belong to him?”

They all glanced up the stairs. “Poor Jeongyeon.”

* * *

Jeongyeon’s timing couldn’t have been better, though some might’ve considered it terrible. That weekend, Twice members had planned for a big potluck style dinner at the Loft. They tried to throw one of these every few months so that they wouldn’t lose touch. Not everyone came every time — this would be Jeongyeon’s first time attending. Jihyo extended the invitation to Jeongyeon, though she worried that it might be a bit much given all the news with her. Jeongyeon insisted that she would be fine.

The only problem? Nobody mentioned this to Nayeon.

Late in the afternoon, folks began arriving and setting up in the Momo dance studio, which was the largest. Foldable tables and chairs ran down the middle of the room and held everyone’s contributions while people mingled and caught up. Jeongyeon felt like a intruder into the Loft, despite the fact that her name was on one of the doors and her face was on any number of photos of the group placed around the building. 

However, one by one she met all her former group mates and their partners, who all seemed overjoyed to meet her, though they all carefully avoided why she was here - they were all aware by now. Underfoot, several dogs ran around, playing and causing the clatter of little toenails on the floors.

Jihyo, who had realized a potentially tense situation happening, positioned herself in the lobby to intercept Nayeon who had arrived with a guest. “Nayeon-unnie, one sec, there’s something I need to tell you—”

Nayeon’s attention was elsewhere as she came in. “Boo! Booooo!” She gushed as she spotted Momo’s dog wagging his tail in the hallway leading to the dance studios. Boo took off and Nayeon gave chase immediately. 

“Nayeon-unnie, wait!” Jihyo raced after them. _Shit_.

Nayeon scooped up Boo for a snuggle right at the doorway to the dance studio and looked up expecting to see everyone. She did — including Jeongyeon. The grin she had froze and she stood there, silent and unmoving until a male voice nudged her into movement again.

“Nayeon-ah, you’re blocking the door.” JY Park, ‘the Asiansoul’ himself was their surprise guest. Like Jeongyeon, he was always welcome but had never come due to his schedule. “Jeongyeon-ah! You’re back in the city, it’s so good to see you!” He hurried over and warmly embraced his former idol. Jeongyeon, still shocked at seeing Nayeon in the flesh, barely heard him.

Soon after, the meal began in earnest with everyone taking seats. Jeongyeon and Nayeon were both conspicuously quiet as they warily eyed one another. Jihyo sat next to Jeongyeon while Nayeon — who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here in the Loft (again!) — sat with Mina and Chaeyoung.

Jihyo was nervous about putting both of them in the room without any time to prepare for it. She pushed her food around on the plate rather than eating it as she watched them both. Nayeon on the other hand, seemed to have worked up an appetite the way she was going at her food. Jihyo turned her attention to Daniel, who was talking with those nearby.

“And so we’re making the most of the time we have together while we can,” he said. “I’m supposed to head over to America soon for our concert tour.”

“Well, you could always go there for a while, too, couldn’t you?” Sana said to Jihyo. “It might be easier than being away for all those months.”

“It might be more difficult now, don’t you think? I mean, it’d be awkward for you.”

Jihyo had a bad feeling about what was going to be coming next. Why did Nayeon open her mouth about it?

“How do you mean?” Sana said to Nayeon.

“Well wouldn’t it? I mean, you’d be touring with someone whose wife you’re hiding out in your house after all.” Nayeon pointed her chopsticks at Jeongyeon’s direction.

“Did he say that to you?” Jeongyeon said softly. “I know you spoke with him.”

Nayeon looked around wondering how that could’ve been known. Her eyes settled on Chaeyoung who gave a shrug as if to say _What? It’s not like you were quiet about it_. “Yes, he called me. He wants to talk to you.”

“He can come here and talk to me, then,” Jeongyeon sniffed, stabbing at a piece of meat with her chopsticks.

“That might be better,” Sana put in. “Lots of things get lost when there’s distance or other people in between.”

Nayeon gave Sana an irritated look, then turned back to Jeongyeon. “You should do it.”

“It doesn’t matter what you think,” Jeongyeon shot back.

“Don’t you think you’re being selfish about it?”

“Selfish?! How am I the one being selfish? I’m the one who was cheated on!” Jeongyeon’s voice rose in volume.

“Did you stop to think about how that might affect Jihyo and Daniel?” Nayeon’s voice rose, too, as the conversation escalated to just short of a shouting match.

“Don’t bring us into the conversation,” Jihyo said, but she was ignored.

“But if you talk to him, then maybe he’ll be willing to work things out.”

“On our marriage or Daniel’s contract to perform with them?” Jeongyeon challenged.

“That’s a good point,” Chaeyoung said.

“You stay out of it,” Nayeon snapped, pointing at her but staring down Jeongyeon.

Jeongyeon’s voice trembled even as barely held back tears. “So you’re telling me I should just go back, shut up, and let him treat me however he wants?”

Jihyo put a hand on Jeongyeon’s forearm to try and calm her down. “Jeongyeon…”

“And I should smile like an obedient wife and be grateful f-for—” Jeongyeon was too choked up after that. She dropped her chopsticks with a clatter, pushed back her seat and hurried out of the dance room with tears streaming.

Standing up, Jihyo growled at Nayeon with a hard look. “What the fuck, Nayeon.” She was so incensed that she left off the ‘-unnie’ she normally used. She started to move after Jeongyeon but Mina stood up instead. 

“No, I’ll go.” Their quietest member rushed off down the hallway.

Jihyo surveyed the room, but it was clear the mood was ruined for everyone. Nayeon was scowling at her plate. Sana’s empathic senses were overloaded with Nayeon’s hostility and was clearly uncomfortable. Tzuyu was similarly situated while Chaeyoung was looking out the door at Mina’s departure with a worried frown. Momo was hugging Boo to comfort herself and Dahyun was picking at her food to avoid looking at anyone.

“Well, look at the time,” JYP said. “You know, Nayeon-ah and I had another meeting to do anyway, so I think we’ll take our leave so we can get that done. Thank you everyone for inviting me, I’ll be sure to come again next time.” And with all the confidence of a man in business for many years, he tugged Nayeon to her feet and managed to escort her out without objection.

* * *

Mina surprised Jeongyeon by quietly pulling her aside and into her studio room. Jeongyeon could see the streaming setup, the professional lighting, and overflowing desk with computers, monitors and gaming consoles that she played. “I know what you’re feeling,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“You feel like you’ve let everybody down. You feel like you no longer belong. You feel like you don’t deserve their friendship any more?” Mina was giving her an intent look that was unfamiliar to Jeongyeon; this was someone doing the reaching out, rather than withdrawing in as she usually did.

Jeongyeon heaved a small sigh, looked away and gave the tiniest of nods. 

Mina reached out and grasped her hands and squeezed. “It’s how I felt after my… health break. I broke up Twice. Nobody liked me any more. And even if they did, that I didn’t deserve it.”

“No. We never thought that of you. We never blamed you for that,” Jeongyeon protested.

“I know. I know that _now_ ,” Mina said. “I think I always knew it, but I let something inside me that doubted. It took a while for me learn to push that part down and not listen to it, but to listen to those who love me. To learn to recognize those people. Like you. Like everybody else in Twice. I needed to hear it. I think you near to hear it, so I’m going to tell you now.

“We love you, Jeongyeon. We don’t blame you for what happened. It was just Twice’s time. We’ve moved on, but we’re all still friends. I think that’s the most important thing.”

A lump formed in Jeongyeon’s throat that she had to swallow even as she could feel hot tears streak down her cheeks. “I don’t think—”

“No,” Mina said with unusual force, squeezing her hands again. “That’s the part you can’t listen to. Listen to _me_. Believe _me_ when I tell you that we still love you. We want you back in our lives.”

“Even Nayeon?” Jeongyeon sniffled.

“Especially Nayeon. She just might need more time to admit it to herself.” Mina let Jeongyeon quietly cry for a minute to absorb it all in. She walked to her streaming desk and tugged out a couple of tissue paper sheets from a box sitting on her PC and handed it to Jeongyeon to dry her tears. “I think the shock of seeing you brought back some old pain and she lashed out at you. It was unkind of her and unfair to you, yes.

“I’ll tell you what Jihyo told me back then: just start with what you can manage. We’ll pick up the rest. Don’t worry about Nayeon. I’m sure Jihyo will have words with her and we’ll probably all hear it. You know how she is with her voice.”

Jeongyeon found herself laughing as she patted her face down with the tissues. It was such a Leader Jihyo thing — to say the exact thing the person needed to hear when they needed to hear it. When she felt more composed she got a hug from Mina as Chaeyoung poked her head in.

“PD-nim and Nayeon-unnie left. You can come back.”

Nodding, Jeongyeon trudged back to salvage what she could of their meal, but felt better with Mina and Chaeyoung on either arm. It really did feel good to have friends around again.

* * *

**August, 2014**

“Oh. Oh, my.”

Jeongyeon and Jihyo sat up, each tugging at the bedsheets and pillows to cover up. They were on the bed, having fallen asleep after their intense bout of intimacy. Jihyo’s head was fuzzy, both from the drinks she had at the party and from being suddenly woken from a dream that featured her and Jeongyeon. Finding herself naked next to Jeongyeon reminded her that it wasn’t entirely a dream and she blushed furiously at being discovered by Sana.

“Um—”

“Sana, could you give us a minute, please?” Jihyo begged with all the dignity she could muster. “And wait outside for me?”

Sana, who was shocked to discover the both of them nodded dumbly and gently shut the door. Jihyo glanced over at Jeongyeon who was squinting and looking around for her clothing before remembering she it was wet from her little pool jumping moment at the party. She got minimally dressed with an oversized shirt used to sleep in and stumbled out of bed and quietly handed Jihyo some training clothing. 

Exiting the room, Jihyo found Sana looking uncomfortable with the knowledge of her discovery. She glanced around; they were alone. She took a breath to confront this situation. 

“Sana, could I ask you for the very huge favor of keeping quiet about what you just saw?” Jihyo said in a soft voice. 

Sana’s cheerful, smiling face had smoothed into a serious mien. “Jihyo, do you know what you’re doing?”

“I know it looks bad—”

“I mean about Nayeon. You’re both her best friends. If she finds out she’s going to be really upset.”

“She has a boyfriend, she can’t be upset about this.”

Sana sighed and shook her head. This wouldn’t end well for anyone. “I won’t say anything. But you should think about it. I don’t want any of you to get hurt.”

Jihyo squeezed Sana’s hand and went back into Jeongyeon’s room that she shared with Nayeon. With Sana’s interruption, she suddenly realized it could have been Nayeon that interrupted them. Jeongyeon held out an already-folded stack of Jihyo’s damp clothing from the party. _Of course she’s already cleaned up._

“Is everything all right with Sana?” Jeongyeon asked with a worried frown.

“Yes, she won’t say anything.” Jihyo accepted the stack of clothes but paused as their fingers brushed. “Look, about this afternoon—”

“We had a lot to drink,” Jeongyeon said quickly. “And I was feeling—”

“I don’t regret it.”

Jeongyeon let go of the wet clothes and then quickly nodded. “Neither do I. I just don’t want to wreck out friendship.”

“Yes, of course! This was just… this one time.”

“Yes, one time. Never again.”

“Never again,” Jihyo nodded in emphatic agreement.

* * *

**Three weeks later…**

“This really has to be the last time,” Jeongyeon groaned, her cheeks flushed from their exertions. She shivered as the final tendrils of her orgasm faded away. Jihyo rolled off, panting softly, and lay next to her. They were in a storage room on the top floor of the trainee apartments where spare furniture, including spare mattresses, were kept. Jeongyeon’s curiosity about the unused floor led to room with faulty locking mechanism that she bypassed with a butter knife and some jiggling of the handle. It was a terribly convenient place for their trysts.

Jihyo laughed breathlessly. “Hey, this is your fault, you’re the one who pulled me up here this time.”

It was true. Jeongyeon’s hormones were raging lately and Jihyo was available and amenable to helping her out. Things were getting tense for the pre-debut team. The 6MIX debut had been postponed once already for reasons management didn’t explain beyond ‘not yet’. Jihyo was feeling the pressure, too, which might have explained why she was willing to join in whenever Jeongyeon asked if she wanted to ‘go for a run’ or ‘go to the practice room’.

After a sufficient cooling-off period they got dressed again, pulling on their training clothing which were easy to slip on and off.

“How do I look?” Jeongyeon asked while smoothing her hair back. “I wish we had a mirror in here.”

“Let me,” Jihyo said, reaching for Jeongyeon’s hair and evening it out and making it look less mussed. “You should wear a dad hat like me,” she said with a grin. “Then you’ll have an explanation on why it’s messy.”

Jeongyeon just made a face, giving her though about that idea. “You go back first this time? Ten minutes start?”

“Sure.” Jihyo leaned in for a kiss but Jeongyeon turned away and got a kiss on the cheek. She asked Jeongyeon about it, right after one of their ‘sessions’ and Jeongyeon claimed it felt ‘weird’ afterwards. 

Jihyo wasn’t sure how to process that as she made her way down the stairwell to their floor. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy their ‘fun’ — but she knew that Jeongyeon wasn’t in love with her, exactly. It was a little game, what they had, a little secret they both shared. And it wasn’t hurting anyone, right?

Entering her floor’s hallway from the stairwell, she was quickly intercepted by Nayeon who opened the dorm room closest to the stairs. “Ah, Jihyo! Come in!” She reached out and tugged Jihyo into the room.

Jihyo was wondering why Nayeon was here, given that it was Cecilia and Lena’s room — her fellow pre-debut members.

“See, I told you she’d be here soon and coming up the stairs,” Lena grinned. She was looking a bit glassy-eyed for some reason.

“What do you mean by that?” Jihyo said slowly. She then spotted a brown bottle half-hidden behind her and her eyes widened. “Are you guys drinking?!”

Cecilia rolled her eyes. “Oh please, like there’s anyone in this room who isn’t breaking the rules. You were drinking last month at the party.”

“Yeah, but not _here_! You know how they like to do inspections! You need to get that out of here!”

“Actually, Jihyo, it’s what _you’re_ hiding that we’re interested in finding out,” said Nayeon.

“What are you talking about? I’m not hiding anyth—”

“Oh please,” Lena cut her off. “You’ve been sneaking out of here for a month and Jeongyeon’s been covering for you. Don’t think you haven’t been spotted. You’re seeing someone and you’re sneaking out of here to see him. It’s the only explanation. You leave for ‘exercise’ and come back looking like… well, like her!” She pointed to Nayeon.

It was an open secret that Nayeon was sneaking out to see Namjoon, though nobody quite knew how she wasn’t spotted leaving the building by the security cameras. 

“Come ooonnn~,” Nayeon whined, grabbing Jihyo’s arm and shaking it. “You can tell us.” She then leaned in and sniffed at Jihyo. She knew what a sweaty Jihyo was like given their extensive training together, but there were pheromones and… a familiar scent she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It was out of place on Jihyo. “I can smell it!”

Jihyo shook Nayeon off irritably and scowled at the lot of them who were all grinning at her after Nayeon’s observation. “Look, it’s not anyone’s business what I’m doing, but I can tell you I’m _not_ seeing any _guy_. You’re just being suspicious about nothing.” She crossed her arms. 

Lena and Cecilia both lurched to their feet, unsteady from their drinking and crowded Jihyo against the wall. “You’re not leaving until you tell us!” they cackled and started grabbing Jihyo to restrain her. “If you don’t tell us, we’ll get Jeongyeon to tell us who it is!”

“Leave Jeongyeon out of this!” Jihyo struggled to get away from both of them even as Nayeon stood off to the side to watch.

A wrestling match ensued with Lena and Cecilia trying to tackle and pin Jihyo, but the long-time trainee managed to hold one off at any given moment, using their unsteadiness against them. In their drunken state, they began to get more forceful, causing Jihyo to respond in kind until an earnest fight was breaking out between the three of them.

Nayeon, who at first was watching with amusement tried to pull Lena off only to get kick to her left knee - her weak one that had been injured in a car accident years ago - sending Nayeon to the floor in pain.

In the struggle, Jihyo managed to land a sharp elbow to Cecilia’s stomach which caused her to stop abruptly. She looked green and felt the bile rising in her throat. “Oh god…” She hurried out to run for the toilet…

… And ran smack into one of the trainee managers who had come to speak with another trainee heard the fight and came to investigate why there was so much noise coming from the end dorm room. Cecilia couldn’t hold it in any more, fell to her hands and knees and proceeded to vomit all over the trainee manager’s shoes.

Booze-induced vomit has a distinct smell and it was immediately obvious what was ailing the trainee.

Sharp words were said and the manager-unnie ordered out Nayeon, Jihyo, and Lena into the hallway. All four of the pre-debut trainees were being interrogated loudly about fighting and where booze had come from when a voice broke out behind them.

“What’s going on here?”

Everyone stopped and turned to look at Jeongyeon who had just come from the stairwell.

Jihyo felt the world starting to collapse around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can only speculate how agonizing it is for each Twice member to make a decision to not fully participate in any performance, much less a fuoll album comeback on their fifth anniversary. We’ve seen when they’ve performed while injured so as not to disappoint Onces.
> 
> I hope Jeongyeon knows that we support her during her recovery and although we will miss her presence, we value her health even more. 
> 
> Jeongyeon, may you find your center once again and when you do, we will be here to welcome you with open arms.
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	7. Shot Thru the Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nayeon finds out Jeongyeon and Jihyo’s secret and they have their first big fight.

_Oh, I can't fight this feeling any longer_  
_And yet, I'm still afraid to let it flow_  
_What started out as friendship, has grown stronger_  
_I only wish I had the strength to let it show_

“Can’t Fight This Feeling”  
REO Speedwagon

* * *

**September, 2014**

The trainee manager-unnie dismissed Jeongyeon and ordered her back to her room as she called for another manager to sort out the infractions. The four of them knew that they were in huge trouble. Jeongyeon looked back at them all with a worried expression but scampered off at a sharp bark from the manager.

The girls were separated into different areas with Lena and Cecilia interrogated first. Nayeon and Jihyo sat at opposite ends of the hallway to prevent them from speaking to each other or anyone else. Finally, the two managers came out of the dorm rooms they were using as an interrogation room and approached Nayeon and Jihyo.

Jihyo felt a pit in her stomach and hung her head trying to hold back tears. If she got kicked out after nine years of training… she wouldn’t know what to do. Her whole life was about becoming an entertainer and making her debut to dazzle the world with her talent and skills. Another part of her felt bad about keeping the secret from Nayeon. Other than Jeongyeon, Nayeon was her closest friend among all the trainees. They were the first trainees her age and they worked together for five years forging bonds through sweat, muscle strain, and tears.

She swallowed as the manager known for her strictness beckoned with a sharp gesture towards the stairwell for a private conversation. First, Jihyo had her breath smelled to check for alcohol. Then checked for anything broken or strained. Nothing there, either.

“Tell me what happened.”

A carefully edited tale about her side of the story came out. No lies, precisely. Lies of omission. Jihyo stated she had been taking the steps up to return to her dorm after exercise when she was pulled into Cecilia and Lena’s room. Yes, she saw them drinking. Yes, Nayeon was there. No, she didn’t see Nayeon drinking. They questioned where she was, accused her a secret boyfriend, a charge she vehemently denied. They cornered her, they tried to wrestle her and got physical. Nayeon was injured, she jabbed one in the stomach.

The manager listened with pursed lips and an unreadable expression. “Why did they accuse you of having a boyfriend?”

“I don’t know.” But Jihyo saw that answer wasn’t going to be accepted. “They said they saw me leaving more frequently. I was using the stairwell by their room, that’s all. I was taking the stairs instead of the elevator for exercise.” That was a white lie, but it matched what the manager was told about Jihyo’s change in routine.

“And Jeongyeon?” The manager asked with a piercing gaze.

“I don’t know what they said about Jeongyeon. They convinced themselves my taking the stairs meant I was sneaking out, but surely if I was you could just check the cameras!” The trainees knew the cameras were being watched, mostly for unauthorized visitors and deliveries of takeout food. Jihyo knew that she would never show up since she was secretly on the top floor the whole time.

“Hm.” It was a distressingly non-committal response from the manager.

In the end, a study of camera footage would reveal that despite Lena and Cecilia’s insistence that Jihyo was sneaking out, there was no evidence of it. There was, however, footage of Lena and Cecilia looking suspicious as they entered with oversized purses carried in a way to conceal them from the cameras several times. The large communal recycling bin behind the building was searched and several alcohol bottles matching bottles found in Cecilia and Lena’s room were found.

That was enough to convict them in the agency’s eyes. While rumors of secret dating always floated around, they were caught with contraband and with starting a fight that injured another trainee.

The two girls were quietly booted out of the trainee program. One day they were there and the next day their room was empty. The company had called all trainees for small group sessions to announce their departure and lecture them on acceptable behavior. Lena and Cecilia were moved out in the meantime. To everyone else not understanding what was going on, the abrupt departure of two girls on the pre-debut group was shocking and only added to the gossip circles.

Jihyo and Nayeon got away with only reprimands.

* * *

Nayeon called Jihyo over to her room while Jeongyeon was out running an errand. It was a couple of days after Lena and Cecilia’s exit and they hadn’t talked about what went on. Nayeon was still limping slightly from her knee injury.

“OK, seriously. What’s going on? They’re watching everyone like we’re criminals now,” Nayeon said. “What did you tell them?”

Jihyo sighed. Although she didn’t want to be held responsible for the fight, she did feel responsible in a round-about way for two promising trainees being drummed out of JYP. “The truth. I wasn’t sneaking out to see anybo— any guy,” she stumbled. “I caught them drinking, but not you. They started the fight.”

“You know they asked me if you were seeing someone, right?”

“What did you tell them?”

“That I didn’t have any proof to the rumors. But you _are_ seeing someone, aren’t you? Who is it? Not one of the boy trainees next door, is it?” The male trainees were in an adjoining building with a separate entrance.

Jihyo looked away with a face she hoped was as neutral as possible. “I told you, I’m not seeing any guys.”

“You’re hiding _something_ , Jihyo. Come on, don’t you trust me? You know my secrets.” Nayeon actually sounded hurt that Jihyo would hide something from her. She plopped herself down on Jeongyeon’s bunk, grabbed a pillow and hugged it to herself to pout. She paused and then pushed her nose into the pillow and sniffed. There was a familiar scent; it was Jeongyeon’ body mist. Why would she smell that on Jihyo—

Nayeon’s jaw dropped. “Oh. My. God. That’s why I thought I smelled something—” She inhaled Jeongyeon’s scent again on the pillow. “That’s it, isn’t it? Is it Jeongyeon? Tell me it isn’t, Jihyo.”

Jihyo bit her lip and just looked away. What could she say?

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” Nayeon roared and stood up with a stormy, outraged expression. 

Just then the door opened and Jeongyeon came in with a surprised look at hearing Nayeon’s voice through the door. “Why are you yelling? What’s going on?”

“Why don’t you ask your _girlfriend_?” Nayeon snarled.

“What? What girlfriend?” Jeongyeon looked confused at both the accusation and Nayeon’s anger.

Nayeon pointed an accusing finger at Jihyo. “I figured it out. That’s who Jihyo’s been secretly seeing. It’s you! Don’t you two play stupid with me!” She shoved Jeongyeon out of the way and stalked down the hallway.

There was awkward silence as Nayeon left the room. “Did you have to tell her?”

Jihyo shook her head. “She figured it out. She smelled you on me that day in Cecilia and Lena’s room but couldn’t remember why it was familiar. She just remembered.”

Jeongyeon dropped the plastic bag of convenience store purchases and chased Nayeon down the hallway and into the stairwell. It was becoming a very familiar site. “Nayeon-unnie, wait!”

She spun around to face Jeongyeon, an angry look still on her face. “When were you going to tell me you were together?”

“We’re not _together_. Besides, it’s none of your business anyway!” Jeongyeon crossed her arms.

“None of my—” She stomped her foot. “You’re supposed to be my best friends!”

Jeongyeon sighed. This wasn’t at all how this was supposed to play out — not that she really had a plan for how it was supposed to play it. It was supposed to be a one time thing that… wasn’t. “Friends? Then why did you never tell me about Namjoon-oppa? I had to find out at the party that you were ‘together’ with him all summer! Fine, you want to know? Yes, Jihyo and I are doing it. We’re not together, we’re just friends with benefits. There, are you happy now?”

“Why would you do that? That’s not… you.”

“Not me? I have urges, too, Nayeon, not just you.” Jeongyeon couldn’t believe what she was hearing. They were highly charged, highly attractive teens. Did Nayeon think she was the only one to think about sex?

“I can’t believe this. No, I can’t hear this.” Nayeon put her hands over her ears and started down the stairs again.

“Why not? I’m just like every other girl here!”

Nayeon stalked back up the stairs and got in Jeongyeon’s face. “No you’re not!” she said through clenched teeth.

“You can’t judge me on this! Not someone sneaking around to doing her boyfriend behind everyone’s back!”

“I’m not having sex with Jihyo behind your back! You- you betrayed me!”

Jeongyeon’s jaw dropped. Betrayed her? Nayeon was the one who broke _her_ heart! “You know what? Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t tell you if this is your reaction.”

“How is this a good thing?”

“Why are you so angry? Are you the only one of us allowed to get any action? Huh?” Jeongyeon pointed an accusing finger. “Are you mad that we had sex, or are you mad that we didn’t tell you?” She felt like Nayeon had something to say, but wasn’t. If they were going to fight, she might as well pull it out.

“You were supposed to be my friends.” Nayeon was back in sulk mode.

“Well your _friendship_ got two senior trainees kicked out and got yourself injured. Maybe I don’t want your friendship any more!”

* * *

**November, 2014**

That one line spoken in the heat of the moment lead to the two most awkward and painful months in both their lives. Years of friendship and closeness were tossed aside and a icy wall went up between them, amplified further by being roommates. They pretended the other simply didn’t exist, only resorting to passive-aggressive notes on a whiteboard when communication was unavoidable. 

With Lena and Cecilia’s departure, Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s inexplicable frostiness to one another fed another round of rumors. Were they dating one of the departed trainees? Were they dating each other and then broke up? Who betrayed who?

It wasn’t until October when Nayeon mended her friendship with Jihyo, largely because they had to work together during training practice and Jihyo was willing to apologize for keeping a secret. Jeongyeon was another story. Anytime she tried to get Jeongyeon alone to talk, Jeongyeon avoided her or went into a crowd where they couldn’t discuss private matters. Much like when she first arrived, Jeongyeon isolated herself in the vocal practice rooms all day and only returned late at night to the dorms to sleep and left early in the morning again. Nayeon only saw her in group classes where Jeongyeon stayed on the opposite side of the room from her and left the second classes were done. Even Jihyo reported that Jeongyeon was distant with her, barely sparing two words in the last two months.

Between her frayed friendships and increased scrutiny in the trainees’ activities, Nayeon reluctantly ended her relationship with Namjoon. He was unhappy about it but after what happened she knew that if she continued her clandestine relationship she would meet the same fate as Cecilia and Lena.

It was a week after Jeongyeon’s birthday, the first since she had arrived at JYP that she didn’t celebrate it with Nayeon or Jihyo. Classes had ended early due to some maintenance going on in the hallways between the practice rooms. Workmen with ladders were climbing up into the roof panels and ducts while doors were removed to be replaced with new ones with glass paneling. In one room, Jihyo and Nayeon lingered after their practice room’s door was removed along with the one across the hallway.

“Hey. You’re staring at her again.” Jihyo elbowed her in the ribs, noticing that Nayeon was frowning at Jeongyeon and Danny, a U.S.-born Korean trainee who were talking in another practice room. They seemed to be going over the JYP basic dance moves choreography that all trainees had to learn and pass to continue their training.

“She’s already passed the basic moves test and he hasn’t, so why is he trying to explain it to her like she doesn’t know?” Nayeon muttered.

“He’s been hitting on her, that’s why. It’s not like Jeongyeon doesn’t have her admirers, you know.” Jihyo noticed Nayeon’s frown turn to a scowl at the thought of others pursuing Jeongyeon. “Why don’t you just talk to her?”

“You don’t think I’ve tried? We sleep in the same room and I still can’t. She’s been avoiding me the whole time.”

“Well, you might have your chance now.” Jihyo nodded across the hallway where Danny decided to employ some American directness to make his move on Jeongyeon.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing! You can’t touch me like that!” Jeongyeon squirmed away from Danny’s exploring hands. Nayeon bounded up and hurried across the hallway.

“Aw, c’mon Jeongyeon, you’re eighteen now! Let’s stopping playing around and— urrrk!” 

The choking off sound was from Nayeon who had grabbed Danny’s shirt from behind, tightening it around his neck before jerking him away from Jeongyeon and shoving him out the door into the hallway. “She said hands off!”

“What the fuck, Nayeon?” he growled, squaring his shoulders.

“That’s Nayeon- _noona_ to you.” Despite being many pounds lighter, Nayeon just pointed down the hallway. “Get out of here before you get your ass reported”

Just for a moment, Nayeon thought he just might take a swing at her but instead Danny just made a disgusted sound. “Fine. Wasn’t getting anywhere with her anyway. I guess the rumors are true, she’s just a dyk—”

Whatever pejorative he was about to utter was cut off as one of the workman whose ladder was on his shoulder suddenly turned to respond to a call on his phone from another worker, and clothes-lined Danny across the back of his head with the ladder. Danny slammed face-first into the door frame and slumped to the ground, unconscious. 

The clumsy workman, who had been smacking his ladder against the walls all week, didn’t seem to notice and continued on his merry way.

Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Jihyo were momentarily speechless at the situation when Jihyo spoke up. “You two get out of here. I’ll call someone to make sure he’s all right.”

“But—”

“Go,” Jihyo insisted. She knew these two needed time together to talk.

They wandered back towards the main lobby, stopping in a small semi-private side corridor where they could talk with nobody around.

“Are you all right?” Jeongyeon asked, looking worried. It was the first direct thing she’d said to Nayeon in weeks.

“Yeah. I think my heart’s pounding a little from the adrenaline rush, but I’m OK. Are you OK?” Actually, Nayeon felt sick to her stomach. It was an impulsive decision to physically confront the male trainee, but she just felt it had to be done. “Don’t listen to him. You don’t owe him or anyone anything.”

“I know, but… I wanted to say thank you. It all happened so fast, I just sort of froze…” Jeongyeon just shook her head at the fresh memory. “Anyway. Thanks.”

“It’s nothing.” Nayeon took a breath. This was her chance to finally tell her. “Listen, Jeongyeon, I wanted to apologize. For blowing up at you. I was an idiot. I never should’ve behaved like that. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m so, so sorry.” She held out a hand. She desperately wanted to feel Jeongyeon’s touch again, to mend their breached friendship.

Jeongyeon squeezed the offered hand and gave a small smile. “I’m sorry, too. For what I said. I was being stupid. I didn’t… I didn’t mean what I said. I’ve missed hanging out with you, talking with you.” She stepped closer, into one another’s personal space. 

Nayeon’s other hand found Jeongyeon’s and they stood there, holding hands. “These past few weeks have been miserable. It’s been so lonely. Jeongyeon, I—”

“Yes?”

Nayeon leaned forward, lips parted as she found herself becoming lost in Jeongyeon’s brown eyes when the sound of approaching footsteps jerked her out of her reverie and she took a quick step back from Jeongyeon. 

“Oh, hey!” A male voice was the source of the footprints, and had stopped at the side corridor entrance.

Jeongyeon turned to look at who interrupted her moment with Nayeon. “Jimin! W-what are you doing here?”

“We were invited to work with some JYP trainees. Park Jinyoung-nim invited us since our companies are working closely together. He thought some of the trainees could use some extra perspective from someone recently debuted.”

And that was how the next day trainees were in a mixed class experimenting with some of the BTS members on dance moves with different groups’ songs to build their improvisational abilities. Nayeon and Jihyo sat off in the corner watching as the others laughed and danced to a Wonder Girls tune. (Danny was still in the hospital being observed for possible concussion.) Nayeon particularly wanted to avoid her now ex-boyfriend. Nobody asked why she was sitting it out with her arms crossed.

“This was nice of them to volunteer, don’t you think?” Jihyo asked Nayeon as they watched the others dance.

“He’s not even that good,” Nayeon huffed. Noticing Jihyo’s side-eye, she added. “Well, he’s not!”

Nayeon was deeply irritated that Jimin was here at JYP. Maybe he was here to offer advice and dance tips to the trainees, but she frowned as she watched while Jimin flirt-danced near the other female trainees raising a round of giggles, particularly when he did a flourish in front of Jeongyeon and beamed a smile at her.

“Show off,” she muttered.

* * *

Jimin and BTS were scheduled to visit for a week. Most of their members picked a day to come by and work with the JYP trainees, but Jimin stopped by daily and was regularly seen chatting with Jeongyeon. Nayeon seriously considered calling up Namjoon again to distract herself from thinking about pushing Jimin down the stairs.

OK, not seriously considering it, but still. Especially after she caught them in quiet corners and lingering in the practice rooms long after the classes had ended. It was classic behavior when two trainees were flirting or hooking up. She would know.

By now, all the practice rooms had a long vertical slit of glass allowing those in the hallway to peek inside without interrupting whoever was in. Nayeon was passing through the practice area one evening when Danny and another female trainee slipped out of a darkened practice room, their clothing looking mussed and hair all messy. Not that Nayeon could disapprove, but after what Danny did to Jeongyeon he seemed to move on pretty quickly. 

He and his latest conquest were staring, jaws dropped while looking into one of the other training rooms when Nayeon’s presence caused him to look up. He smirked at her. She wanted to smack that smug expression off his face so badly. “I guess she’s not such much a dyke as a gold digger.” And with that insulting, cryptic comment, he thrust his chin towards the door he was looking in and left down the hallway with an arm around the girl’s waist.

Peering in, Nayeon saw Jeongyeon and Jimin in a near embrace by one of the mirrored walls in a semi-dimmed practice room. Their hands were clasped, fingers entwined and clearly enjoying an intimate moment with goofy smiles on each other’s face. She wasn’t sure how long she was standing there in shock, but it was Sana’s touch on her shoulder that brought her out of her fugue. The Japanese trainee took a glance in and grasped the situation almost instantly.

“Oh, I see. I guess she’s gotten over you.” Sana gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth as soon as she realized what she said. 

Nayeon blinked, shaken by this second, unexpected revelation. “What? Sana, what did you say?”

Sana just shook her head and ran off in sheer embarrassment at leaking what should’ve been a privately held opinion to the very worst person it could’ve been leaked to. The act of saying it aloud caused Nayeon to realize the horrible truth: that Jeongyeon was over her just as she was realizing that her jealousy was because she was in love with Jeongyeon.

At the dorm, Nayeon sat with Jihyo in a corner of the trainee lounge. Shoulders slumped, she explained what she saw and Sana’s blurted observation. Just when she thought she was over the worst months in her life, this new information threatened to create an ever worse period ahead.

“Are you sure it was her?” Jihyo asked softly. 

“Yeah.” The word stuck in Nayeon’s throat a moment, her body unwilling to admit it.

“Look… it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s in love with him or anything. Maybe they’re just flirting”

“Yeah. I guess.” Nayeon poked at a salad that she had been poking at for the last twenty minutes. 

Jihyo had been watching her friend’s body language and attitude for the week that BTS had been visiting. “Nayeon, are you love with her?”

She wasn’t expecting that question and jerked eyes up but almost immediately looked away. It was a non-answer answer.

“I think you should tell her.”

Nayeon gave up on the salad. She wasn’t going to eat it, and threw the fork onto the table. “Jihyo, did you know about… was Jeongyeon…”

“Crazy for you?” Jihyo finished. She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I did.”

Nayeon sat up, a beginning expression of outrage on her face. “Wait, and you both still…?”

“Don’t even start there again,” Jihyo said, holding up a finger. Realizing there was an edge to her voice, she took a breath and continued in a softer tone. “You and I both know her. She’s never been moon-eyed over a celebrity like that. And we work with a lot of really good-looking guys. Just… you should talk, honestly and just admit it. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

Just then, a small gaggle of trainees tumbled into the lounge all tittering and excited. The center of their excitement appeared to be Jeongyeon, who was blushing and grinning and holding her hands over her cheeks in a gesture that Jihyo and Nayeon knew very well.

“OK, it’s just us now, tell us!”

“How was it?”

“Did you kiss?”

Numerous questions were being pelted at Jeongyeon, but the last one got everyone to shut up for a moment to watch as Jeongyeon bit a lip, nodded, and squealed in excitement. A moment later, they were all hopping up and down, squealing and giggling. 

Nayeon only realized her fists were clenching so hard that her nails were staring to bite into her palm when Jihyo forced them to uncurl. 

_I’m not going to lose to some flash-in-the-pan boy idol from a two-bit agency._

* * *

**August, 2026**

Nayeon sat at the corner end of the bar, nursing a glass of whiskey. It seemed appropriate as she considered that today had been one of the worst days in recently memory. Starting with being run out of a trainee’s room, walking barefoot in the rain, running into said trainee at the Loft, getting a phone call from — ugh — Jimin, and then having an ugly skirmish of words with Jeongyeon.

She took a big gulp letting it burn down her throat. _Fuck, Jeongyeon looked good. Why did she have to look that good? She wasn’t even wearing anything fancy, just something of Jihyo’s._ After a couple of years in the United States, she was hoping that her feelings would’ve lessened, that her absence would’ve healed that deep wound that her marriage to Jimin had caused. But just having her in arms’ reach tore open those wounds again.

She knew she had been a real bitch to Jeongyeon, that she hurt her feelings. But in a twisted logic, she felt like if she shared her pain with Jeongyeon she would feel better.

“You never really addressed your issues of her getting married, did you?” her drinking companion asked.

“Please, no lectures tonight, PD-nim. I feel bad enough as it is.”

After hustling her out of the Loft, Park Jinyoung could tell that Nayeon was feeling and suggested a private drinking establishment usually reserved for big movers and shakers like him. Executives more than celebrities, the other drinkers were men and women looking to enjoy an hour or two without the scrutiny of subordinates, spouses, or the press. JYP came here occasionally for meetings or to just get a quiet hour to himself. Today he brought Nayeon.

“You didn’t have to make her cry,” he pressed, ignoring her request. “I hope you apologize to her the next time you see her.”

“I was planning on staying far, far away from her as possible. Don’t you remember? She’s a married woman with her own troubles.”

“There was a time she was your friend, too.”

“She was a lot more than that!” Nayeon slapped her hand down on the bar, knocking over what was left of her drink. She reached down to her purse and was fumbling to take out her wallet, but the row of high-end whiskey glasses explained why she was having trouble with that. “I should go.” Nayeon stood, but swayed dangerously and held onto the bar to steady herself.

“Woah there. Let me get you home.”

At her place, she went straight to bed and passed out, managing to avoid Sana and Mina, her roommates. But if she was hoping to be spared of Jeongyeon in her dreams, her subconscious had other plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if anyone’s offended by Danny’s slur. He really is a dirtbag.
> 
> I’m sure the timing is way off but given how I’m paralleling Twice’s real history, I was wondering if I could work in a way to explain why two 6MIX members were quietly ejected from JYP. Even today, there’s only speculation and rumors about why they left, only that they did “something bad” (according to a former JYP trainee).
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	8. The Reason Why

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeongyeon and Jimin meet in Seoul to discuss their marriage. What does Nayeon think about it?

_An angel's smile is what you sell_  
_You promise me heaven, then put me through hell_  
_Chains of love got a hold on me_  
_When passion's a prison, you can't break free_  
_Whoa, you're a loaded gun, yeah_  
_Whoa, there's nowhere to run_  
_No one can save me, the damage is done_

“You Give Love a Bad Name”  
Bon Jovi  


* * *

**August, 2026**

Jeongyeon grabbed a pillow and pulled it over her face to blot out the morning sun. It was her second week back in Seoul and she still felt like she had just come off a trans-oceanic flight. She was mentally exhausted. Jihyo and Daniel had been gracious hosts, leaving Jeongyeon alone in the house while they went off with their work. Both of them were still performing, composing, making appearances while Daniel ran his own agency. All things she had given up since she left Twice. She felt like so much of an intruder and made herself as useful as she could in the one way she knew how: their house was spotless.

She felt like her life had been paused, that somewhere in the universe was a video of her and over her face was a triangle waiting for someone to click on it and let it run forward again. Her life had unmoored from her career with Twice and now from her marriage. She was adrift and didn’t know which way to go. For a week, she didn’t leave the house, didn’t call Jimin, and deleted every text he sent. The first few days she cried and cried, but now she just felt wrung out and empty of tears.

What went so wrong with her life? Jeongyeon wasn’t sure she knew what love was any more. Was she being punished for something she did? Why were there so many crises in her life? Surely this wasn’t how love was for everyone. She felt like she had fallen in and out of love so often — was it love, then? How many times could someone fall in love?

She had fallen for Nayeon. Fell for her hard. You always remembered your first love, but it was hard when she also rejected you just as hard. She closed her eyes and the memory of one of their last meetings before her wedding came unbidden.

_“Nayeon,” she hesitated. Should she ask it? Was it fair? “Can you think of any reason I shouldn’t marry Jimin?”_

_It was probably only a second or two, but it felt like an eternity before Nayeon answered. “No. None whatsoever.”_

Was that it? Was the universe punishing her for marrying Jimin? That she had said her vows to love and honor him in front of friends and family? She loved Jimin. She really did. He was her husband, a new start at life. The start of her own family that she thought she wanted. To leave behind the tattered love of Nayeon for something whole. She tried hard, really hard to put it all behind her because she never texted, chatted with, or wrote to Nayeon after she got married. 

It must’ve been mutually felt because Nayeon never reached out to her, either. She thought it was because they both wanted a fresh start.

_“Can I take this off, yet?” she asked. Jimin was driving somewhere in L.A. and asked her to wear a blindfold as part of the surprise. They had just finished their honeymoon and flew to Los Angeles as part of Jimin’s relocation for their U.S. push._

_“Soon. We’re nearly there.”_

_The car stopped and he got out. She was tempted to lift up the blindfold and peek. Old Jeongyeon would’ve done that to ruin the surprise, but New Jeongyeon suppressed that mischievous impulse. Her door opened and she was carefully led out a short distance. She felt the knot at the back of her head tugged at and her blindfold fell to her shoulders._

_Jeongyeon gasped. “Is this— is this the house we were looking at online?”_

_“It’s ours now. I noticed you kept going back to it while we were shopping. I had some of our advance team prepare it for me— for us — before our honeymoon.”_

_“I don’t know what to say! It’s gorgeous! Let’s look inside!”_

_“Wait, there’s a tradition I saw for new couples.” He reached into a pocket for a key and unlocked the door and swung it open. Reaching down he picked her up in his arms causing her to squeal in surprise. “I’m supposed to carry you in the first time.”_

_And so Jeongyeon was carried just inside before being let down again. In her awe, she started wandering through the still mostly-empty house with her shoes on (a big no-no), her mind racing with ideas to make it a home and not just a house._

_“I had a new bed delivered ahead so we could sleep here as soon as possible. Want to go… break it in?” He waggled his brow suggestively and they raced up the stairs hand-in-hand._

Jeongyeon couldn’t put her finger on where things started going wrong. It seemed things were going great. Jimin and the boys worked nearby so he was home every night. When they went on tour, she went with them as a supportive wife. There was a whole new city, a new culture to explore and get used to. All the little and big differences were like projects, new things to absorb, process, and integrate into her life. But she was a diligent worker — anyone who made it through a half-decade as a trainee and another seven years as a debuted idol was a hard worker. It was the only way to survive and thrive in the K-pop world. 

Was it difficult? Sure. Her whole life was only Jimin in the United States. All of her friends and family were so far away. Sure, they visited from time to time, but it wasn’t the same as having them a short drive away.

Her mind drifted through more memories of her life overseas.

_“Jeongyeon? What’s wrong?”_

_Jimin found Jeongyeon curled up on the floor of the bathroom, hugging her legs and sobbing. She looked up with tears streaking down her face._

_“I— I got my period again today,” she said between heaved sobs._

_“Oh, sweetheart,” Jimin sighed and got down next to her and pulled her into a tight hug._

_“We’ve been trying for months now. I don’t know if it’s going to happen.”_

_“I will happen. We’ll just keep trying.” He kissed her temple and held her close._

Unfulfilled. There was a part of her life that felt missing. She had a career, a phenomenally successful run as an idol. She had a husband, a home, good friends, her parents and sisters still healthy and alive, but there was still a void. She thought it was a child. It was what came next in life, right? But even in that she failed.

_“And you think it’s your husband that may be the problem in why you can’t conceive?” The Korean fertility doctor asked. She had located in Koreatown, thinking it’d be easier to speak about this in her native language. She had been desperate to find out something, anything, to explain why she wasn’t getting pregnant._

_“I’d like to make sure he’s doing… all right.” How does one bring up concerns about sperm count and motility?_

_“And have you considered that it might be you having the problems?”_

_“It’s not me.”_

_“Have you had a previous examination about this?”_

_Jeongyeon didn’t answer immediately. “I know it’s not me.”_

The electric kettle whistling brought her out of her memories. Even she couldn’t stay in bed all day. There was a knock at the door and she wandered over with her tea, wondering if it was a delivery. Her stomach solidified into lead when she opened the door.

“Uh. Jihyo isn’t here,” Jeongyeon said once she recovered her wits.

“I know. I texted her earlier and she said you were probably here.” The visitor invited herself in and they stood there awkwardly in the foyer. “I came to see you.”

She eyed her warily. “Still arguing Jimin’s side, Nayeon?”

“I came to apologize about my behavior at the Loft during the potluck dinner.”

Jeongyeon shut the door; she wasn’t sure if she was just going to try and throw her out. “Well, you missed me making tea.”

“That’s all right.” Nayeon removed her shoes and followed Jeongyeon to the kitchen. “Have you given thought to what I said, though?”

“Why should I have to try working things out? I’m not the one have sex with random Americans while married!”

“No, not that. Only that you should try talking to him.”

Jeongyeon stared in disbelief. “Is this seriously about Daniel’s deal?”

“If Jimin doesn’t want him around, he’s out. This is important to both him and Jihyo.”

“I don’t believe this.” Jeongyeon threw herself into a chair at the kitchen table and slumped.

“Please, just think about talking to him again.”

“Why didn’t he come here himself? Why did he call you?”

“He thought you’d come see me when you came back to Seoul.”

“Great, just great. Everyone thinks I’m going to go running back to you,” she snorted.

Nayeon rolled her eyes. “Oh, don’t start with that again.”

“Start what again?”

“The woe-is-me Jeongyeon, that’s what. You made your choices,” Nayeon said. Then in a mutter, “Even if they were bad ones.”

Jeongyeon stood up abruptly causing the chair to skitter backwards. “Are we going to have this argument again?”

“We could have re-signed with JYP and continued our careers. Had subunit promotions. _We could still be Twice!_ Instead, you threw it all away to marry that asshole and run off to America.”

“Then why did you let me marry him?”

“You can’t blame me for that.”

“I asked you if there was any reason, any reason at all!”

Nayeon blew out an exasperated breath. “What did you want me to say, Jeongyeon? It was your decision and yours alone. You could’ve said no when he asked you to marry him!”

Jeongyeon’s jaw was clenched. “At least he asked me!”

Nayeon threw her hands up, frustrated. “You know what? I’m done.” She stalked back out and hurriedly got her shoes back on and yanked the door back open. A few steps out she turned back. “I just came here to apologize!”

“Well, your apology is NOT ACCEPTED!” Jeongyeon yelled before slamming the door shut and leaning her back to it.

* * *

**September, 2026**

“This way, please.”

The restaurant’s hostess led Jeongyeon to a private booth where her husband was standing to greet her.

“You look lovely,” he said.

Jeongyeon answered with a non-committal “Hm.”

“I’m glad you came. I was starting to think you weren’t ever going to talk to me again.”

“You’d deserve it, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, I would. I deserve every accusation you want to throw at me. I’m sorry, Jeongyeon. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

“Why don’t we try finding out? How long has it been going on for?”

“Jeongyeon—”

“How long, Jimin?” she pressed.

“Five months,” he sighed and hung his head.

“Five?!” she said a little too loudly drawing a few heads to glance in their direction. She lowered her voice. “Five months?!”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Do you love her?”

“No, of course not!”

“Was she the only one?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why would you do this to us?” Jeongyeon pleaded. “Have I been a bad wife?”

“It’s not that, exactly…”

“Wait, are you saying _I_ drove you to this?”

“Look, the only reason we’ve been having sex lately is to make a baby. And even when we’re doing it, it feel like… it feels like learning new choreography for a song someone else picked for you. It’s an obligation that I have to do.”

Jeongyeon’s features hardened as she whisper-shouted. “How dare you! You could’ve put that energy into me instead of wooing some blonde bimbo and made it enjoyable for the both of us! You could’ve just told me and I would’ve done something — anything — for you!”

“Let’s just stop for now. We’re not going to solve this over a dinner and we’re not getting anywhere.” 

Jeongyeon crossed her arms and just stared at him. Anyone observing them could tell that their evening wasn’t going well at all. The only thing saving them was Jimin’s request for the waiter to not approach for at least ten minutes to give them a bit of space before making an order — on the off chance Jeongyeon walked out.

“What do we do now?” Jimin asked quietly.

“I don’t know. I need to think about things.” 

Jimin nodded. “I understand.”

* * *

“So will you go back to the United States?” Jihyo asked.

“I don’t know,” Jeongyeon answered, distracted by what was on the screens. Both Jihyo and Jeongyeon were backstage at Inkigayo, though this was probably the first time they were they together and not performing. They were there because Daniel and BTS were both performing a couple of days after her dinner with Jimin.

“He’s cute,” Jihyo gestured to a newly debuted group on screen and nudged.

“He’s eighteen, Jihyo.”

“You know, we were eighteen when we debuted. I was pretty cute. I don’t know about you, though.”

Jeongyeon just shook her head with a wry smile. This conversation was so typically Jihyo.

A woman approached with a hesitant look. “Um, excuse me Jeongyeon, could I speak with you?”

“Ji-young! Hello! Jihyo, this is Ji-young, she’s one of the BTS managers,” Jeongyeon said, making introductions. “And this is—”

“You don’t have to tell me who Twice members are,” Ji-young said with a polite bow. “I’m a huge fan. Could we speak over there?”

Jeongyeon followed Ji-young to the BTS green room, currently empty because the boys were on the secondary stage with hosts getting ready for a brief interview. “Is everything all right, Ji-young?”

“I wanted to say I’m so sorry about you and Jimin.”

“Don’t be,” Jeongyeon shook her head. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Ji-young blinked, apparently surprised at this. “Then Jimin… he didn’t mention me? I wanted to make sure things are OK between us.”

Jeongyeon blinked, confused. “What are you talking about?”

The manager’s next words came out in a tumble. “It was a one-time thing, just so you know. He and Jungkook had another fight, and he told me you two had a fight which is why you didn’t come to Dallas to see them, and I was getting ready for a divorce myself, so that night…”

A few minutes passed when a blank-faced Jeongyeon rejoined Jihyo.

“Is everything all right?” 

Jeongyeon just stared ahead at the exit where the group would be returning from the stage any minute now. The doors burst open and the BTS members, still energetic from their performance came down the hallway, hi-fiving one another. It didn’t surprise them when Jeongyeon approached them. What did surprise them was Jeongyeon’s hand lashing out and slapping Jimin hard in the face in front of the whole group.

“How many other women have you done? It’s not enough to have a mistress, but you have to sleep with staff, too? HOW MANY, JIMIN?”

There are few things that could quiet a busy backstage, but Jeongyeon’s outburst was one of them. Jimin resorted to grabbing her arm and dragging her into the BTS green room and kicking the door shut.

“Ji-young, really? You told me the blonde was the only one and now I found out there was another? How do I know there isn’t one in every city? How many Army have you fucked?”

“Could you save your questions for when we’re in private for once in your life? Why do you have to make everything so public?” he stormed.

“Fuck you, Jimin! You don’t get to make demands when you’re chasing every skirt that catches your eye!” She stalked out of the greenroom, uncaring that every eye was on her as she headed for the stairwell. She wanted to get out of the building.

Jimin caught up with her on the landing and grabbed her arm.

Jeongyeon shook him off. “Do we need a repeat of the hotel?” Her arm was grabbed yet again. 

“We’re going someplace to talk and you’re going to listen!”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

Nayeon was coming up the stairs from the garage level — she had been running late but was determined to make it to the show before friends she knew were on stage. She heard the yelling on the floor below, but at Jimin’s name she hurried up to find him getting ready to drag Jeongyeon away. She joined them on the landing “Hey, she said she’s not going anywhere!”

“Nayeon, please stay out of it,” said Jeongyeon.

“Yeah, Nayeon,” Jimin sneered. “This is between me and my _wife_.”

“Seems to me like you have other women between you and your wife!” Nayeon shot back.

“You’re one to talk about being faithful there, Ms. I-have-a-new-bed-warmer-every-week! I’ve heard the stories!”

“I’m not the one married to Jeongyeon!”

“That’s right, you’re not.” 

Nayeon wanted so badly to scratch the look on his face when he said that.

“Jimin, stop it! I’ll come with you,” Jeongyeon pleaded, and shot a _leave-me-be_ look to Nayeon at the same time. She then took a few steps down and looked back, gesturing towards the garage.

Jimin just smirked at Nayeon, turned to leave but at the last second stopped and stepped towards Nayeon. He leaned in with a whisper meant only for her. “Don’t think I didn’t see you that day.”

Nayeon stood there in shock before a look of pure fury twisted her lips into a snarl. It was only when Jimin turned and winked at her that she snapped. She leapt forward and _shoved_ hard.

The male idol tumbled from the unexpected push and fell in a particularly painful way. When he got to the bottom of the stairwell all he could do was groan and clutched his ribs weakly. 

“I can’t believe you did that!” Jeongyeon just stared at Nayeon.

* * *

“You really are an idiot. Why did you involve Nayeon?”

They were in a hospital where Jimin had just been patched up. His arm was in a sling while his ribs were wrapped, having bruised and strained them in the nasty fall. His teammates had already left after ensuring that he was being cared for. To protect Jeongyeon (and himself), he lied and claimed that he tripped. Anything else would implicate Jeongyeon since they were seen fighting only moments before. Still, the band eyed her suspiciously but accepted Jimin’s story.

“She’s going to pay for this,” he growled.

“What did you say to her, anyway? Why did she push you? That’s not like her.”

Jimin didn’t answer.

“You know what? Whatever.” She picked up her coat and purse and headed for the door.

“Aren’t you going to stay and take care of your husband?”

“No.”

“Wait, are you going to see _her_?!”

“Why don’t you call Ji-young to see to your needs? Or your little piece of tail in America? They seem more than willing to help you out.”

“Jeongyeon!”

She ignored his calls knowing that this time he wasn’t going to run up and stop her from leaving again. At the front of the hospital she fished for her phone looking for the ride-sharing app when a somewhat familiar-looking car pulled up. The tinted passenger-side window went down and she saw that it was Nayeon in the driver’s seat.

“What are you doing here?” Jeongyeon asked in surprise.

“I wanted to see that you were all right.”

“What were you thinking, shoving him like that? You could’ve killed him!”

“He started it.”

“I don’t understand you at all, Nayeon. First you tell me to talk to him, then you shove him down the stairs!”

“Are you saying he didn’t deserve it?”

“It doesn’t matter if he deserved it or not. What’s happening is between me and him. It’s bad enough without dragging others into it. You should move, you’re blocking traffic.”

Seeing that Jeongyeon wasn’t going to accept the ride she was going to offer, she started raising the window. But before it fully closed, she called out, “Admit it. You liked seeing him get what he deserved.”

Jeongyeon just shook her head as Nayeon pulled away. Nayeon was right, though.

But she wasn’t about to admit it to anyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not normally this quick in getting another chapter out, but I had a productive day so it’s coming out early! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Recent news about Jihyo and Daniel breaking off their relationship was posted as I wrote this. For their sake, I hope it was amicable, that they both found closure, and that their respective fans remain respectful and give them space to heal. (I don't have much expectation, given how social media works, but one can still hope.)
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	9. Say Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeongyeon finds love, but how does Nayeon feel about that?

_She took my arm_   
_I don't know how it happened_   
_We took the floor and she said_   
_"Oh, don't you dare look back_   
_Just keep your eyes on me"_   
_I said, "You're holding back"_   
_She said, "Shut up and dance with me"_

“Shut Up and Dance”  
Walk the Moon

* * *

**November, 2014**

Jeongyeon opened her eyes to late morning light shining on her face. She never slept in this late except on holidays, so it was odd having the sunlight right in her face. She had spent the evening analyzing and thinking over the day’s events leading up to her first kiss with Jimin. She touched her fingers to her lips, smiling at the memory of the sensation. 

It was a chaste sort of kiss at first before he moved to deepen it. Jeongyeon was paralyzed, not with fear, but with just the overwhelming newness of the situation. Her first kiss with a boy! It was hard to believe that she, Jeongyeon, had kissed and been kissed in return by Park Jimin of BTS. She sighed at the memory of it, of his smile, the way his eyes sparkled whenever they spoke. If she was being honest with herself, she was smitten. She laughed at everything he said, smiled anytime he was around, and acted like the girls she used to roll her eyes at whenever they were around their crushes.

She was now one them and Jeongyeon was all right with that.

Jeongyeon had gotten dressed and swung the door open only to find Nayeon on the other side reaching out for the door knob that she had just yanked away. She gasped in surprise just because she hadn’t expected it. “Nayeon! You scared me.”

“You hadn’t come down to get breakfast yet, I was wondering if you were all right.”

Stepping out, Jeongyeon shut the door to their shared room. “I just slept in. Can you believe it? I never sleep in. I had… a really good night.”

“Yeah, I know,” Nayeon answered only to quickly force a brighter tone, one more typically ’Nayeon’. “Hey, let’s go get breakfast now. We should still be able to get something.”

“Sure!” 

It was a quiet elevator ride down while Jeongyeon stretched and rubbed sleep out of her eyes.

“So… you and Jimin, huh?” Nayeon began.

Jeongyeon’s cheeks reddened. “What do you mean?”

“Everyone in the dorms is talking about it.” Apparently Jeongyeon didn’t notice that Jihyo and she were in the trainee lounge when she admitted to having kissed Jimin last night.

“Oh. Yeah. I guess I didn’t keep it very secret.”

 _No, you didn’t._ “So, you guys kissed, huh?”

Jeongyeon looked away. “This feels so weird talking to you about this.”

“Why? We’re friends, right?”

Jeongyeon turned to look at Nayeon. There was… _something_ in her voice, but her expression was unreadable for once. Nayeon wasn’t one to mask her emotions, normally. “Of course.”

“I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t think you went for his type. You know, pretty boy and all.”

“Huh. Yeah. Funny, isn’t it? I guess some things change,” Jeongyeon said.

“Do they?”

Jeongyeon looked at Nayeon again after what she said was soft — so soft she wasn’t sure it was intended to be voiced. There was that guarded look again.

* * *

Jihyo sat with her on the couch in the practice room as they watched the others take turns practicing their routines for the upcoming Trainee showcase.

“You are definitely the most popular girl in the dorms today,” Jihyo said. “Everyone’s talking about you and Jimin. _Oh he’s so cute._ ” The last part she forced her voice to go squeaky, mimicking the squeals she had heard.

Jeongyeon was watching Nayeon working some body rolls and noticing just how grey sweatpants and a crop top really showed off her body. She answered Jihyo distractedly. “Yes. I suppose.”

Jihyo turned to stare at her. “You know, when they talk about idol duality they’re usually talking about on-stage and off-stage presence, but you take it to a whole new level.”

“What do you mean?” Jeongyeon tore her eyes away from the practice and gave Jihyo a puzzled look.

“Yesterday you were in the clouds with a smile that could light up Seoul. Today — I don’t know, you look like you’re having second thoughts right now.”

“I guess. It’s just — it’s all so new, you know?” Jeongyeon spared another glance as Nayeon crouched low and bounced with a chest pump. It was her favorite part of this choreography. But even as she thought about that, she felt a little sad. Acknowledging that she had a ‘thing’ with Jimin, a ‘thing’ _for_ Jimin, would mean she was admitting to moving on from her first big crush. A little bit of her didn’t want to let that go yet.

“I was talking with Nayeon last night in the lounge when you came back.”

Jeongyeon blinked at looked at Jihyo and what Jihyo was trying to tell her. That Nayeon would’ve seen her all giddy and bouncy when she got back. That’s how Nayeon knew she and Jimin kissed. It bothered her a little how she found out. Once again, her thought train was interrupted when the dance piece ended and trainees were clapping.

And Jeongyeon was standing along with everyone else, clapping and cheering.

* * *

“I don’t see it,” Jihyo said, peering through glass door after glass door. They were at a large 7-Eleven convenience store searching for obscure flavors of things that some trainees had asked for. Specific drinks, specific snacks that weren’t always found on the shelves. 

Jeongyeon and Nayeon were with her for the first time in a while, helping to dig up all the requests from the dorm. It felt good to have company again and for their breach in the friendship, both collectively and individually, repaired.

“Have you thought about what you’re doing for Christmas?” asked Nayeon who was peering on some lower shelves in the hunt for elusive snacks. Her neck was starting to feel it after holding it sideways for endless minutes.

“Just home to see my family,” said Jihyo. ”How about you? Wait, is that it? Momo said it was green.”

“It’s close, but not quite,” said Jeongyeon, peering at her phone with the list of items to look for with specific brands listed. “I think my parents are visiting my sister. We won’t have enough time off for me to go with them to see her.”

“Me too,” said Nayeon, picking up a random snack and adding it to the basket.

“Then you should come with me. I’m sure my family will love to see you again.”

Both Jeongyeon and Nayeon had spent some time with Jihyo’s family who lived in a nearby suburb. She had younger sisters and they entertained them with their dancing and playfulness. The girls loved Nayeon and Jeongyeon; Jihyo’s parents were glad to get to know their daughter’s closest friends after so many years of training with nobody her age.

“Thanks. Wait, I think I see it! This shelf near the back!” Nayeon pointed.

Jeongyeon opened the glass door and reached in, tugging beverages up and peering at labels until she found one that matched. “Yes! I could’ve sworn I checked this one. Good eye!” She passed out several bottles — this way they wouldn’t have to come back for a while to get it for Momo.

“Sometimes you’re just looking too hard and what you’re looking for is right in front of you the whole time,” Jihyo was saying as she skimmed an adjacent shelf. It was an offhand comment, but Jeongyeon shared a look with Nayeon. Despite having her head inside the freezer, she felt her face getting warm.

* * *

Nayeon and Jeongyeon were in the largest training room applying glass cleaner to the enormous mirrors. It was quiet except for the sound of squeegees and spraying as they squirted the cleaner and swiped back and forth to clean the mirrors.

“It was awkward today, don’t you think?” Jeongyeon said to break both the silence and the tension between them.

“Hm? Sorry, what was that?” Nayeon seemed distracted.

“With Danny, I mean, it was awkward today.”

“Oh. Yeah, I saw him with that girl the other day,” Nayeon said. _The day you had your first kiss with Jimin._ “I think he was trying to make you jealous of her.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t, of course. But still, it was… awkward.”

Nayeon paused her cleaning before turning to look at Jeongyeon who was studiously not looking at her and kept to her panels. Of course, it was hard to miss seeing Nayeon. Mirrors were like that. “I should thank you for being here. This is my punishment, you know. You didn’t have to help.”

“Oh, it’s all right. It’ll get done faster, right? Besides, I like cleaning. It’s peaceful. Orderly.”

Nayeon moved over to her. “Hey, you have some on you.”

When Jeongyeon looked up, she found Nayeon right next to her in side her personal space. “W-what?” she asked weakly.

“Dirt. You need to get cleaned off,” Nayeon said with a mischievous sparkle in her eye. She brought up the squeegee and mimicked squeegeeing her chest, brushing the damp tool over her breasts and down her belly with a grin.

Jeongyeon gave a look of mock outrage. “Ooh, I’ll get you for that, Nayeon!” Using her cleaning bottle (filled with only the finest non-toxic organic cleaner — Park Jinyoung would stand for nothing less) she wielded like a squirt gun and squeezed the trigger to spray Nayeon in retaliation. Nayeon shrieked and ran away with Jeongyeon in hot pursuit.

Despite the soundproofing on the doors, Jihyo could hear the shrieking and laughter from the hallway. She peeked through the glass slit and saw them chasing one another around and smiled. Nayeon would forgive her for scolding her when she messed up their choreo during class and recommending that she be punished for it.  


* * *

Jeongyeon sat on her bed with a package and envelope in her hands, yet her attention was outside the window. It had been the strangest few weeks she had ever lived through. Today she felt her heart flutter and her stomach get butterflies whenever she thought about Jimin.

But Nayeon…

Nayeon loomed large in her mind lately. It was little things. Looks that Nayeon gave her through the day. She sometimes caught them in the mirrors of the dance practice rooms, or the communal washrooms. The smiles. The way she brushed up against her, or how they’d both reach for the same condiment in the cafeteria and their fingers would brush up against each other without pulling away immediately. Nayeon was the first person she saw when she woke up and the last person before she fell asleep. It was there whenever Nayeon stood close by throughout the day.

Sighing she looked down at the delivery, picked up at a bakery of all things. An employee there held the delivery for Jimin as a favor. It was a way to sneak it into her hands without going through the scrutiny of their trainee managers who would definitely ask questions.

_My lovely Jeongyeon,_

_I hope this finds you well and that your training isn’t too exhausting. Being at JYP and seeing all of you working hard reminded me of my own training days. You told me you were going to debut soon and after seeing you dancing, I’ve no doubt you will do great in 6MIX. I’m glad I got to spend time with you during my week, it was one I’ll never forget. I’ve asked my friend to give this to you. It’s a small thing, but I hope you like it. I miss you and I look forward to when I can see you again. Maybe Christmas?_

_Love, Jimin_

Carefully opening the package revealed a small jewelry box. Jeongyeon gasped at the simple lettering in gold on the box — a high-end retailer in Seoul. Withdrawing it she found a small silver pendant, a heart with a hollow center.

“Wow,” Jeongyeon breathed. She went to the mirror in the room to see it as she put it on. She stood there staring at it for a while. It was a simple but tasteful piece.

With her thoughts of Nayeon lately, she felt confused and needed to sort out her feelings. So she went for a walk. She ended up by the river and taking a seat on a bench, watching birds and the occasional boat float by. While staring outwards she wondered what was wrong with her. She was going to debut. She had a boyfriend, if a secret one. Her friendships were repaired. She was in good health. 

Yet she was never more confused than she was now.

She was out there for hours and her trance was broken when a hand gently gripped her shoulder causing her to recoil and leap off the bench. 

“Nayeon!” she gasped. “You scared me! You shouldn’t sneak up on me like that in public, I thought you were… I dunno, some attacker.” Jeongyeon’s hand was on her upper chest as it rose and fell from her heavy breathing.

“I wasn’t sneaking up on you. I called out to you. Three times, in fact.”

“Oh. Sorry. I was… I have a lot on my mind right now.” She sat back down and Nayeon joined her.

“You shouldn’t be out here. It’s getting dark and cold.”

“Hm.” Jeongyeon was staring back out across the river again. Nayeon’s presence didn’t help her smooth out her mental turmoil; Nayeon was one of the reasons it was in that state in the first place.

“I saw the box in the room,” Nayeon said a moment later and gestured to her neck. “Is that it? From Jimin?”

Jeongyeon shifted uncomfortably in her seat before answering softly. “Yes.”

“It’s nice. Simple, clean lines.” 

There was another period of quiet. “It’s a nice out tonight. The sky’s clear today. We can see some stars even through all the light.”

“Yes.”

They sat again in silence for another fifteen minutes before her watch beeped. It was set at the same time every night to remind her. “Oh. Curfew soon. I guess we should get back.” They got up and as they started to cross a grassy area, Jeongyeon’s foot caught an exposed root and she tumbled forward only to be caught by Nayeon who cradled her in her arms. 

“Are you all right?” Nayeon asked.

Jeongyeon found her voice box suddenly closed up. “Yes,” she peeped and nodded. She regained her balance, but Nayeon’s arm was still around her waist. Jeongyeon made no move to leave the half-embrace. Even with the cool winter air, Nayeon’s scent — something she was very familiar with, being her roommate, filled her nose. A glance sideways caused her to be distracted by the curve of her lips and the eyes behind her glasses. She stopped suddenly.

“I can’t do this, Nayeon.” She said it softly, halfway to a whisper.

“Can’t or won’t?” Those brown eyes stared intently. No more circling around the issue.

“Shouldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because… I’m with… Jimin now.” Jeongyeon felt like hanging her head, but her gaze was locked with Nayeon’s. She couldn’t look away.

“What if there was no Jimin?” Nayeon stepped dangerously close.

“But there is,” she said. She still hadn’t pulled away from Nayeon’s arms. Her pulse sped up as their faces were mere centimeters away.

“Then ditch him.” There was a huskiness in her voice, filled with desire and a hint of desperation. 

Their lips brushed against one another for just a fraction of a second when Nayeon’s phone rang. They jerked apart in surprise. She heard Nayeon heave an irritated sigh as she pulled it out and tapped the answer button. “Hi, mom….”

They walked back to dorm together, but apart. One in her weekly conversation with family the other lost in her thoughts again. Jeongyeon avoided Nayeon for the rest of the evening to try and make sense of this new development.

_We almost kissed._

* * *

It was a cloudy grey day at the bakery when they stopped by the evening after all their training was done. They were craving something sweet and it was warm and inviting after walking through the light drizzle outside. Nayeon, Jeongyeon, and Jihyo were chatting comfortably about their day and the upcoming holidays. Nayeon and Jeongyeon sat together on one side of the table where their legs brushed up occasionally or their hands touched as they reached across each other to get a napkin or reach for one of their shared pastries.

Nayeon excused herself to the restrooms at some point and Jihyo was staring at her empty tea cup. “I’m going to get another one.”

“I’ll watch our stuff,” Jeongyeon offered. It was, strictly speaking, unnecessary. Due to the shape of the floorspace, they were in a semi-private nook towards the back out of immediate sight from the front of the shop. Regulars knew about it and the girls frequently claimed it while they were here. Jeongyeon flicked her thumb over her phone screen while browsing social media.

“A girl like you is too pretty to be sitting alone.”

Jeongyeon glanced up and blinked. “Jimin!”

“Surprise! I see you’re wearing my gift.” He flashed a broad grin, pleased to see it on her neck and took Nayeon’s seat.

“Um. Yes. Thank you very much,” she said, her mind still struggling to process the shock of seeing him here.

“It’s really great to see you again. I’m glad you chose this spot so I can do this…” Jimin cupped her chin and leaned forward to press a light kiss on her lips.

Jeongyeon broke the kiss and glanced over Jimin’s shoulder. Nayeon had returned from the restrooms and saw what was happening with the most heartbroken look on her face. She walked past the nook without looking in their direction. Not even bothering to retrieve her jacket, she exited the bakery in the rain.

“Jimin… we should talk.”

* * *

The rain had picked up from when they entered the bakery. Jeongyeon had filched an umbrella from the bin next to the door so customers wouldn’t drip water all over the floors. Her arms had Nayeon’s jacket as she peered up and down the street. She didn’t see Nayeon, but on a hunch she jogged in the direction of the dorms and found her with slumped shoulders and bedraggled, soaking hair hanging down.

“Nayeon, wait up! You need your jacket, you’re going to get sick!”

“Go away, Jeongyeon. I want to be alone,” she shouted back.

Jeongyeon caught up with her and held the umbrella over them, but Nayeon kept marching forward. “Could you please stop so we could talk? And put on your jacket?”

“GO AWAY!”

“Nayeon… I broke up with Jimin.”

Those words stopped Nayeon in her tracks and she spun around to face Jeongyeon. Her makeup was streaked down her face and her sweater clung to her arms and torso from being soaked through. Jeongyeon took the opportunity to drape the jacket over her shoulders as Nayeon just breathed, the warmth causing puffs of condensation in the cold, wet night air.

“I broke up with him,” Jeongyeon repeated. “I wasn’t really going out with him anyway…” She paused for some kind of response from Nayeon. “What do you want from me?” she cried out. “I’ve been in love with you since the summer. But you never noticed me, like you noticed Namjoon or any of the others who have flirted with you in class. Do you know how painful that is? I needed to get over you, Nayeon! But then Jihyo noticed me.” That got a reaction, a wince from Nayeon. “And then Jimin, too. I tried to move on from you. I tried so hard…” She swallowed a sob, but tears formed in her eyes anyway.

“Jeongyeon—” Nayeon moved to embrace her but Jeongyeon stepped away.

“No, no, Nayeon, I can’t.” She was crying now, but Nayeon persisted and enveloped her in a wet hug anyway. She cradled Jeongyeon who sobbed on her shoulder.

“Jeongyeon, I’m so sorry. I’ve been blind this whole time. I do understand how painful it is to see someone you love with someone else.” She grabbed Jeongyeon’s free hand and squeezed. “I- I love you. I just didn’t realize it until recently.” Although she had admitted it to Jihyo with a nod, it was the first time she said the words aloud. “It’s why I was so angry when I found out about Jihyo. And seeing you with Jimin. I was jealous. So very jealous. I love you, Jeongyeon. When I saw you kiss him just now, I thought I was too late. Is it too late, Jeongyeon?”

They stayed in a tight embrace, Jeongyeon holding onto the warm from the woman she loved and tried to get over. “No, it’s not too late.” She lifted her head and they stared intently at one another. She wanted so badly to kiss her. Nayeon had that look in her face when she was working to master a difficult piece of choreo and staring in the mirror as if to say _‘I’m coming for you and I will claim you.’_ Except now it was aimed at her. The warm puffs of their breath mingled together made visible by the winter air when they heard Jihyo’s piercing voice calling out to them, asking where they were.

Nayeon closed her eyes as she was denied a second time. “Goddammit, Jihyo.”

Jeongyeon could only laugh at their situation and pressed a quick kiss to Nayeon’s cheek. Tugging Nayeon’s jacket back on, they went back to the bakery to reassure Jihyo that they hadn’t abandoned her there.

* * *

“We’re getting in so much trouble for this.”

“Don’t worry about it, we’ll be inside before bed check.”

Nayeon and Jeongyeon were out late, having missed curfew back at the dorm. At that point, the doors should have been locked so that all entrances and exits would require a staff member to check them in or out. And because they were paranoid, they checked beds at 11 PM to a make sure everyone was where they supposed to be and not playing musical beds. Jeongyeon was fretting. While she could be mischievous and sometimes a pain in the ass to her fellow trainees, she tended to follow the big rules the agency set. 

This was definitely breaking those rules. Nayeon seemed less worried as they walked back to the dorms.

“Wait, why are we cutting in through the back?” Jeongyeon asked.

“I’m showing you my secret way in and out. How do you think I saw Namjoon?”

Nayeon led them down an alleyway behind the trainee buildings. It wasn’t that wide, just wide enough for service vehicles to come in to maintain things like power, gas, sewage, or to empty the garbage and recycling collection bins. It also included an oft-overlooked safety feature — the emergency exit.

“Wait, isn’t this the boys’ building?”

“Yes,” Nayeon answered. “Look up there. See that? Our buildings are connected on the roof because it shares utilities. We’re going to take the staircase up the boys’ dorm, walk over the roof and walk down the stairs into ours. See how there’s no cameras back here? They don’t expect us to be back here.”

Jeongyeon’s jaw hung open in surprise. “Wait, those doors don’t have external handles, how do you open them?”

Nayeon just smirked and took out her phone and began to text. Looking over her shoulder Jeongyeon could see a contact labelled an innocuous ‘my cousin’ and a short, cryptic message of ‘I hate trigonometry.’ A moment later a message came back: ‘Just remember, SOHCAHTOA.’

“I don’t get it.”

“This is how the male trainees get in and out without being seen. The guys closest this exit get texted to prop open the door just enough to release the lock and then they go back in. When we go in, we never see who opened the door. That way if we get caught, we never know who it was and can’t betray them.”

Jeongyeon just shook her head. It was all so planned out. “Why those messages?”

“They need to look like normal messages from family because those get looked at during inspections. If they ask, they can just say they were helping ‘cousin Deiji’ with homework. The messages don’t mean anything otherwise, it’s just to let them know someone needs the door open. The response lets me know they’re received it.”

A moment later, the door creaked slightly as it was opened enough to unlock it. They waited to a twenty count before opening the door the rest of the way. A dimly lit grey stairway led up. They climbed the stairs and on the roof the walkway between buildings was exactly as Nayeon described it. Around five feet wide with covered wiring running along it. The roof access door to the the girls’ dorm was unlocked and soon enough they were in their shared bedroom quickly changing into pajamas.

“Told you,” Nayeon grinned. 

Inspecting the rooms took twenty minutes with the managers unlocking and entering rooms without any warning, as if they were attempting to catch the trainees in a compromising position. But the senior trainees were too well practiced to look anything but innocent. Close to midnight, when the managers had already gone to bed, Jeongyeon tugged Nayeon out of bed and back into the staircase.

“You showed me your secret, so I should share mine.”

Up on the unused top floor, Jeongyeon showed Nayeon how she opened the storage room door with a folded piece of cardboard. There was a faint musty, disused smell to the room and one of the mattresses was pulled to the floor, unused for the last couple of months.

“Wow. So this is where you and Jihyo—”

“Yeah. This is why we used the stairs.”

Nayeon placed her phone on one of the spare chairs — the flashlight was the only source of light since they wanted to be discreet. She pushed at the door to make sure it was shut all the way before turning back to Jeongyeon. “Well, I guess this is as good a place as any to continue our discussion.”

“What discussion?”

“This.” Nayeon reached up to cradle Jeongyeon’s head, leaned up, and pressed her lips to Jeongyeon’s.

For Jeongyeon, it was if time paused for a moment and all her cares and worries faded into indistinguishable background noise. Nayeon may have only been the third person she had ever kissed, but neither Jihyo’s nor Jimin’s kisses were like this. Not anywhere close. She wrapped her arms around Nayeon’s slender waist even as she stumbled back until she felt the coolness of the wall on her back.

“Wow,” she said at some point when Nayeon broke her kiss. She thought Jimin made her breathless with kisses; she was greatly mistaken.

“Yeah,” Nayeon agreed, nuzzling her nose to Jeongyeon’s, their eyes and lips so very close to one another’s. 

“We should— have more discussions about this.”

“I agree.”

Their kisses became more ardent as Nayeon kept Jeongyeon pinned to the wall. Hands started wandering and exploring. Fingers sliding around an exposed waist, fingertips warm on skin. Nayeon took pleasure in provoking soft sighs and moans from Jeongyeon.

“Jeongyeon,” Nayeon breathed her name on her neck as she kissed, worshipping the slender stem that had distracted her dreams of late. “We should stop. It’s late.” And with a supreme effort she stepped back and held Jeongyeon at arm’s length.

“It is late.” Jeongyeon’s chest betrayed her arousal, rising and falling deep to catch her breath from the stunning kisses.

“I mean that… I want you, Jeongyeon. But I don’t want to rush you or push you into anything you’ll regret. You mean too much for me to do that to you. I’ll wait however long you want, but just know… I want you so bad.”

Jeongyeon’s gaze softened as she reached out with her slender fingers to trace her fingertips down Nayeon’s cheek and jaw. “I’m ready now.”

Nayeon’s response with a bright grin before she pressed another passionate kiss. Jeongyeon’s response was to tug Nayeon over to the mattress conveniently located in the middle of the room and by the single light source from Nayeon’s phone, she unbuttoned her pajama top before slowly falling back on the makeshift bed, dragging Nayeon down on top of her.

The elder girl pawed at the pajama top before leaning back to tug pajamas and panties off. She gazed at her lover’s form, bare an vulnerable for the first time. Her heart skipped a beat. She was a goddess in her eyes. “You’re so beautiful it hurts.”

Lips curving in a smile, Jeongyeon reached for the hem of Nayeon’s shirt with a pink unicorn on it tugging it up and tossing the garment to the side. Then pulling her down, she slide her hands over Nayeon’s bare back and beneath the waistband of her bottoms to cup that dancer’s derriere and press it closer… and gasped.

“Nayeon! Are you… not wearing any underwear?!”

Nayeon flushed with an embarrassed grin. “I need to do laundry and I figured nobody would notice.”

Jeongyeon matched her grin. “Naughty, naughty Nayeon…”

Her gentle admonition was answered with a kiss as they awkwardly struggled to free Nayeon of her remaining clothing.

Humor faded with shared tender kisses as their bodies slid along, against, and with one another. The dimly lit room filled with sighs and moans that increased in volumes and lips and fingers found new places to explore on each others’ bodies. Despite both their previous experiences, so much was brand new.

“Oh—! Oh… god—!” Jeongyeon quivered under Nayeon’s twin assault of tongue and fingers. She never had it like this before, not with Jihyo. It was physically pleasurable but this was something else. Nayeon seemed to have an instinctive understanding of building pleasurably agony, of tension within Jeongyeon until her back was arced off the mattress, chest thrust upwards. And just when she thought it was never got to happen, she experienced an explosive release. Her body jerked as nerves were assaulted and overloaded with pulses of pleasure that wracked her body. Her eyes were squeezed as her throat sang a soft keen of ecstasy. She thought she had experienced orgasms before, but they were kids jumping up and down on the bed compared to this earthquake.

She barely noticed Nayeon finding her own pleasure, pressing her sex to parts of her she had never considered erogenous. It was later on when she had more presence of mind to replay the experience that she realized she was hopeless naive when it came to sex.

But she wanted to learn more with Nayeon.

As Nayeon writhed against her in her own climax, Jeongyeon’s heightened senses made her body so much more aware of Nayeon’s every movement. They panted in unison, even their breaths synchronized like their dance moves in practice. Nayeon’s eyes fluttered when Jeongyeon’s finger gently pushed hair off her sweaty forehead. A little breathless they shared a sweet, gentle kiss before Nayeon lay her head on Jeongyeon’s shoulder.

* * *

Jihyo was returning from a late-night bathroom trip when she saw Nayeon heading towards the dorm bathroom.

“Did you have too much to drink before bed, too?” Jihyo asked.

Nayeon looked a little flushed as if she just returned from practice. “Uh, yeah.”

“Hey, have you had a chance to talk to Jeongyeon yet? About whatever happened at the bakery yesterday?”

“Uh. Yeah, we had a… long discussion.” Nayeon shifted uncomfortably, like she wanted to get away from Jihyo and this conversation.

“And?”

“We said all we needed to say.”

Jihyo looked at her friend. “Oh. All right, good.” As she turned to head back to bed, she paused, wondering why Nayeon seemed so eager to dodge her conversation with Jeongyeon.

_Ah well, I’m sure they’re not fighting any more._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you we’d eventually got to some 2yeon :D Thanks for your patience thus far!
> 
> Playlist for all the chapter intro songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0mf6hBJylYQvBoNtbQy4Q6
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	10. TT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the weather turns colder, changes come for Jeongyeon, Jimin, and Jihyo.

_Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner_  
_Sometimes I feel like my only friend_  
_Is the city I live in, The City of Angels_  
_Lonely as I am together we cry_

"Under the Bridge"  
Red Hot Chili Peppers

* * *

**October, 2026**

The sound of excitement from the kitchen woke Daniel up from his sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he stumbled out of bed and wandered to the kitchen where Jihyo and Jeongyeon were smiling and hugging.

“It’s finally a rest day for me,” he yawned.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to wake you,” Jeongyeon apologized.

Daniel waved off the apology. “So what are you two so excited about?”

“I’ve offered Jeongyeon some work. She’s decided to stay in here for a while, so she’s going to write some songs for me.”

“Hey, that’s great!” Daniel smiled. “It’s always good to have a bigger group developing music and you two have already worked together for years.”

“Yes, I’m very lucky to have help,” Jihyo said with a mysterious look on her face. “Especially since I may be busier than I expected next summer.”

Both Jeongyeon and Daniel gave her puzzled looks. “Why’s that?” they asked at the same time.

Jihyo’s smile broadened as she lay a hand on her abdomen and patted it gently. Daniel continued to look confused but Jeongyeon’s expressive face went from shock to surprise to glee in seconds. She squealed, jumped up and down and hugged Jihyo — gently — and danced around her, her eyes tearing up with joy for her friend. “OH MY GOD! Congratulations!”

Daniel found himself unexpectedly attacked with a hug from Jeongyeon as ‘congratulations!’ were chanted in his ear and only then did he realize what Jihyo was telling him. He extracted himself from Jeongyeon’s hug and took Jihyo into his arms. “Darling—”

“I’ve been waiting to tell you until I could know with more certainty,” Jihyo said, touching his face. “I just got a message about it yesterday that I didn’t read until now. Are you happy?”

Her question was answered with a kiss before being picked up and swung around once in the air. “Yes!”

“We should celebrate!” Jeongyeon said with a smile for the happy couple. Just then some gears clicked in her mind and the smile took on a mischievous curve. “I know just how to do that.”

* * *

“Oh yes, I could get used to this,” Jihyo moaned. She, along with Jeongyeon and Sana were lying face-down on massage tables. Several other Twice members were in other parts of the exclusive spa being similarly pampered. A few days after Jihyo and Daniel’s announcement, Jeongyeon had gathered up everyone at the Loft for a spa date. It was a combination early celebration of Jihyo’s condition (the first of their group as mother-to-be), and their way of catching up.

Tzuyu was off visiting family back in Taiwan and couldn’t make it — Jeongyeon promised to treat her later. Nobody asked why Nayeon wasn’t invited.

“You know, you’re going to need clothes now that you’re staying here,” Sana said from two massage tables away.

“Hey! Are you saying my wardrobe is boring?” Jeongyeon protested.

“I’m saying that your wardrobe looks a lot like Jihyo’s.”

Jihyo and Jeongyeon laughed because it was true. Jeongyeon had arrived in Seoul with very little in the way of extra clothing and for the past couple of months was largely borrowing Jihyo’s.

“Fine. You can help me shop afterwards, then. Lend me your discounts.”

Even after their stints as Twice, a number of the members were still in demand as brand ambassadors for the plethora of beauty products and clothing lines. As they matured and grew older, the brands they promoted did as well. Jeongyeon was exploring a makeup counter at one such store later that afternoon. She picked up a lipstick, dabbed it on her wrist to see how it would look on her.

“You should know, that color stains.”

Jeongyeon put the lipstick back on the counter and glanced over her shoulder. “Nayeon,” she said coolly. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“I saw you come in with Jihyo and Sana.” She reached over and picked up a sampler bottle of perfume and sampled its scent.

“Don’t you have better things to do than spy on us?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’m doing shopping because Momo’s birthday is coming up and I need to buy a present.” Nayeon returned Jeongyeon’s cool gaze. _I still remember it’s your birthday coming up, too._

“Hm, that’s right. Momo’s birthday’s soon, I need to get something for her.” Leaning down, she picked up the crowd of shopping bags at her feet.

Nayeon paced along side her, fingering one of the bags to peer in. “A bit of shopping therapy, I see. Shoes, handbags, clothes?”

“I can’t keep wearing everything out of Jihyo’s closet.”

“And what about these? I don’t remember Jihyo or Sana being into those designers,” Nayeon continued, tapping her fingers on other bags from renowned fashion houses.

“Some are mine. Some are Jihyo’s, some are Sana’s. I prefer comfortable shoes, now that I don’t need to be on the stage.”

“Where are they?”

“Ladies’ room. I’m treating Jihyo to some celebration shopping for her good news.”

“She told me,” Nayeon said. “But these can’t all be for her.”

“Some of it is celebrating my own good news,” Jeongyeon admitted.

“Is the good news that you’ve decided to stop being crazy?”

Jeongyeon turned and gave her patented stare over her glasses. “Funny. Jihyo’s hired me to help write some songs for her next album.”

“Congratulations,” said Nayeon. “Now you can write about how much of a crazy person you are.”

“I’m not crazy.”

“Then how about how you’re getting revenge on your cheating husband by buying out every store on this street?” She paused as they passed through handbags and accessories. Nayeon picked up a small handbag with a quilted leather pattern and glanced at the hand-lettered price sign on the display shelf. “How about this, it’s nearly 39 million won?”

“Don’t you have some of your own shopping to do?” Jeongyeon asked pointedly.

“I’m thinking of getting Momo a handbag.”

Before she could respond, she was cut off by Jihyo’s voice behind them.

“Nayeon! What are you doing here?” She and Sana were returning to deal with a bout of nausea brought on by her pregnancy.

“I was just shopping.”

“She was just leaving.”

Nayeon and Jeongyeon both spoke at the same time earning a confused look from Jihyo and Sana.

“Sana, I’m glad I ran into you. I’m shopping for Momo’s birthday and I figure you could help me since you still the most time with her,” Nayeon gestured to Jeongyeon and smiled sweetly. “And Jeongyeon has been telling me how much help you’ve been on this shopping trip.”

“Of course!,” Sana beamed. She could never turn down a fellow member’s request to help make another member happy. She linked arms with Nayeon and they strolled around discussing the pros and cons of various gifts for Momo. Jeongyeon could only laugh at herself in disbelief at how smoothly Nayeon inserted herself into their shopping group.

Several hours, and numerous additional bags later, Nayeon offered to load them and their purchases into her luxury SUV and drive them back home. Without a good reason to say no, they accepted and Jeongyeon found herself carefully arranging their many purchases so that it would fit. Nayeon’s remote chirped as the rear down started to swing back closed, but before Jeongyeon went to go sit, Nayeon stopped her.

“Does Jimin know about your plans to stay?”

“He will soon enough,” Jeongyeon smirked.

* * *

Jimin had to admit he was a bit nervous as he stepped into the conference room at Big Hit Entertainment’s office in Los Angeles. He had a meeting with management shortly after returning from Seoul. He was largely recovered from his injuries, though after a day spent in a plane his ribs ached in a way that kept him from getting a good night’s sleep. 

On top of everything, he found he was lonely. The house felt oversized for him without Jeongyeon there. Her presence would fill every square centimeter when she was there. Now there was no warm hug and a smile waiting for him after a long day practicing. No mock-fighting about dinner, or for the remote in bed. No one to chide him for not properly sorting out the recyclables from trash. That morning, he woke up and found that he had drifted onto her side of the bed. He lay his head down on her pillow and breathed in her fading scent. 

His wife was across the Pacific. He fucked up, took her for granted. Took their marriage for granted.

“Jimin, good morning,” the BTS manager said as he came in. He fiddled with a remote for the conference room’s display and he soon found himself staring at Big Hit’s CEO, Bang Si-Hyuk, sitting in a conference room back in Seoul.

_Ah, shit._

“We’re concerned about your situation, Jimin,” the manager began. “The buzz around BTS, and you in particular, is not the kind we want to see. Too many people are talking about your broken relationship with your wife and we need to get this resolved.”

“Sir, I’m trying to reconcile with my wife, I really am.”

“Yes, well, we would like to see some results in your efforts. One way or the other.”

Jimin paused. “What do you mean?”

The CEO spoke up on the screen. “Jimin, I think it’s time you return to Seoul and take a break from BTS. A member taking a pause to deal with health issues, or personal issues, is not that unusual these days. Indeed, because of your recent injuries, we can say that you are focused on recovery and that BTS’s choreography will be detrimental to that recovery. You will then use this time to resolve the situation with your wife.”

“Sir—“

“Jimin, you know you are one of our biggest stars, but the negative attention has reached an untenable point. I regret that it’s time for me to order this, but this ‘situation’ needs to end. Soon.”

* * *

After claiming a few things from his work locker, Jimin took a stroll around the area near the office to try and clear his head. It was, ironically, at the cafe where Jeongyeon spotted him that he ran into her.

“Jimin!” the woman’s voice called out from an outdoor table. A clattering of metallic furniture sounded and a young blonde woman ran up to him.

“Kayla.” Jimin’s voice was flat, emotionless.

“I’ve been calling your phone and even your house! I’ve sent texts and emails, but you haven’t answered!”

“I— I didn’t think it would be appropriate to respond.”

“Jimin, you haven’t said a word to me since that day,” she pleaded and grabbed his hand. She looked hurt when Jimin shook her off and kept walking. “Jimin, please talk to me! Jimin!”

He ignored her and kept on walking back around the block until he got this car and drove home. He wanted nothing more to do with her.

When he got there, men in blue and white uniforms were walking in and out of his house carrying boxes into a moving truck backed into the driveway. Jimin ran out and waved them down. “What’s going on here, why are you taking stuff out of my house?!”

“Hey man, we’re just movers. You want to talk to the boss,” one of them said, thumbing back towards the house. Jimin ran in to see a woman with an iPad peering into several opened boxes, nodding, and tapping the screen.

“Excuse me, what’s going on here?” Jimin demanded. 

“Ah, Mr. Jim In Park?” the woman said, pronouncing his name as separate words. “Carolyn Vansmadden, Pacific Travel Movers. This is for you.” She produced a folder thick with paperwork.

Jimin glanced over it, but it was release forms and a detailed list of items to be shipped to Seoul. He recognized the address as the condo that they kept so that they had a place whenever they travelled back from Los Angeles. A copy of the house key was in a transparent pocket attached to the packet of paperwork.

Looking around he could see what the movers were taking. A select few pieces of furniture, a few pictures from the fireplace mantle. Upstairs, all her clothes were gone from the walk-in closet and dressers. In the master bathroom, her side was empty of what he had considered a clutter of beauty products. He couldn’t help but notice that all the pictures of them both had been left behind.

Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Hoping beyond hope that it was jeongyeon he saw that it was an 800-number from the U.S. and answered it. “Hello?”

“Hello, I’m looking for a Mr. Park, this is Chase Bank.”

“Yes, this is Jimin Park.”

“Yes sir, I’m from the fraud prevention department. We got a flag because your account had shown an unusual amount of activity the last few days, but we contacted a Ms. Jeongyeon Yoo, the other account holder. She said the purchases were all authorized, but we’re required to alert both account holders even if the situation is resolved. This is your courtesy call to that effect, sir.”

“What kind of unusual activity are we talking about?” Jimin asked slowly, dreading the response.

“Large purchases at multiple shops in Seoul, South Korea. If you log into your account online, you will see the full list. It seemed unusual, so we reached out to the account holders. Please note that you will need to make a deposit to reach the minimum amount in your account or you will be charged a fee per our policies.”

“Wait, how much is left?!”

“At this time, $33.15.”

“WHAT?!”

* * *

Two days later, Jimin was back in Seoul walking up to the condo where he knew Jeongyeon had shipped all the belongings. Because he had seen the paperwork, he knew it would be a couple more weeks before it all arrived. He took the key out and tried to open the door… but it wouldn’t unlock. Jiggling it around he realized the key didn’t fit all the way in and that the lock had a shinier look that he didn’t remember.

She had changed the locks!

Giving a loud frustrated sigh, he yanked the key out and pounded the door. “Jeongyeon, I know you’re in there!” He could hear footsteps and the soft clatter of a chain behind undone and a deadbolt sliding before the door was yanked open.

Jeongyeon stood there with her arms crossed, looking comfortably fashionable in fitted jeans and an off-the-shoulder white sweater. Her hair looked different from the last time he saw her — there were blonde highlights and it cascaded in waves to her shoulders. She looked _good_.

“What?” she nearly growled.

“I thought you were staying with Jihyo?”

“I’ve imposed on Jihyo and Daniel long enough. And since I was offered a job, I thought I should act like a working adult and not crash at friend’s house.”

“You got work? Where?” Jimin asked.

“I have a writing job.”

“That’s great, sweetheart!” he said brightly, which only earned a dark look.

“I can only assume you’re here to pick up your things?”

“Pick up… my things?” he repeated, looking confused. He was even more confused when she reached to the side of the door and shoved several old suitcases and a box marked ‘JIMIN’S SHIT TO THROW OUT’ into his hands.

“You can’t kick me out of my house!” he said, outraged.

“ _Our_ house,” Jeongyeon spat. “And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

“Where am I supposed to go?”

“Not my problem.” Jeongyeon then slammed the door in his face.

“You drained our bank account! How am I supposed to pay for a hotel?” he yelled through the door.

Cracking open the door again, Jeongyeon gave him a response. “Why don’t you use your credit card? It’s certainly well-acquainted with hotels this year!” The door slammed in his face again.

The next day, Twitter was all abuzz with pixelated pictures of Jimin loading up his rental car with suitcases and a box from his Seoul condo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you’re wondering, ₩39,000,000 is approximately $3,500 USD. An expensive handbag, to be sure!
> 
> This chapter is a bit shorter, but I wanted to get another one out this week while I have it off. For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you have a good one! For everyone else… Happy Wednesday, I guess!
> 
> Playlist for all the chapter intro songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0mf6hBJylYQvBoNtbQy4Q6
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


	11. Handle It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “The course of true love never did run smooth”

  
_Life is what happens to you_  
_While you're busy making other plans_

“Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)”  
John Lennon  


* * *

**November, 2014**

Nayeon sat in a dance instruction class for the first time not paying attention to the instructor. She was in a trance, watching the swaying leg of her girlfriend.

Yes, her girlfriend.

Jeongyeon. She had never felt happier about her life than she did right now. Word around the trainees was that Nayeon had found someone new and, scandalously, it was her roommate. It wasn’t helped by the fact that they were constantly grinning and touching one another.

She watched her sitting on a chair in tight-fitting training pants that left her ankle bared rising to her well-sculpted calf and thighs that she knew wrapped snugly around…

Nayeon pulled her runaway thoughts back abruptly from where those memories would lead and back to the instructor. She felt her cheeks heat up, partly in embarrassment and partly as more… carnal… sensations stirred within her. Still, she was here to learn in class and she should really pay attention. 

The teacher was going over some popular dances in the United States with a short demonstration on the various styles and which artists were using them. There were videos online that would show some of these, the teacher was saying, and the trainees should avail themselves to studying the popular culture - it would help impress the higher-ups when it came time to choose who to debut.

Jeongyeon’s swaying leg caught Nayeon’s attention again and her mind drifted back to just a couple of days ago in this very classroom. It was late in the day and Nayeon had stayed behind to continue practicing a routine. On her way out she was yanked into this practice room by Jeongyeon. While she was protesting that Jeongyeon really didn’t need to wait for her, Jeongyeon was kissing her lips, her neck, and breathing into her ear that she checked that everybody had gone home already. 

She could barely muster the words to ask what that had to do with anything when Jeongyeon’s busy hands tugged the drawstring of her training pants loose. Words fell away completely as Jeongyeon drew back, flashed a trademark mischievous smirk on her lips and went to her knees. Nayeon felt her pants tugged down as she stumbled against the mirrored wall and—

“Nayeon!”

“Yes? What?” Nayeon sat upright, forcibly pulled out of her daydream by the instructor.

“Since you seem to know about all this and are bored by my demonstrations, perhaps you’d like to come to the front of the class and demonstrate for us all?” she asked, causing the rest of the class to giggle.

* * *

**December, 2014**

Nayeon made her way to the communal showers. It was another late night. She was really working to nail her routine, but all-day practices made for aching muscles. Fortunately, they weren’t charged extra for hot water and at this hour, most people had already taken their showers. She was looking forward to a long hot shower to ease the soreness. On entering, she found herself not alone.

“Long day?” her girlfriend asked as she moved to one stall and hung her towel.

“I feel like I’ve been hit by one of those big trucks, had it stop, and then back over me a few more times for good measure.” She flopped onto a bench used for dressing.

Jeongyeon gave a sympathetic smile as she straddled the bench and gently massaged the aching shoulders. Nayeon sighed as some of the tension eased away.

“So about Christmas…” Jeongyeon began.

“My parents are going away on a belated anniversary holiday. Somewhere warm, I think.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

Nayeon sighed. “I wish I could go. I haven’t traveled anywhere in years. How about you? Your parents are going away, too?”

“Yeah, to see my sister for a while. It’ll be inconvenient to go with them and come back early. But I had another idea…”

“What’s that?”

Jeongyeon eased her hands off Nayeon’s shoulders and wrapped themselves around her waist as she snuggled behind. “You know how Jihyo invited us?”

“Yeah?”

“Well… I was thinking… what if we told her we might be going home…” She gently kissed the side of Nayeon’s neck as her voice dropped into a sultry murmur. “And we spent the day here at dorms. Alone. Empty.”

Nayeon bit her lip, both at the implication and the shivers Jeongyeon was provoking with her kisses. “Mm-hmm….”

“Then we can call her and say plans fell through and would she be so kind as to take in some holiday refugees?” Jeongyeon’s fingers tugged the knot of her bathing robe loose exposing a mostly nude Nayeon underneath. 

Nayeon’s breath caught as fingers slipped into her underwear down to the joining of her legs. “Sounds like you have it all figured out…” she sighed and turned her head. She could see Jeongyeon’s gaze with a fire in them. Burning for her. 

“So, it’s a plan?”

“It’s a plan,” Nayeon nodded before lunging forward for the first of many kisses in the shower room that night.

* * *

“… so that means she will be joining your training sessions. I know many of you already know her, so please make her welcome,” one of the trainee managers was saying.

With the abrupt departure of two of pre-debut members, JYPE management decided to bring in Sana to raise the 6MIX membership up to five. JYPE had hoped to form its first Japanese-member group to break into the Japanese music scene, but international politics killed that hope as tensions between South Korea and Japan rose and Japanese consumer sentiment for Korean exports dropped.

Sana was easy to get along with and integrated quickly into the group, though with end-of-year breaks coming up, she only had a couple of weeks in the practice rooms before heading home for a week.

Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s plans to spend an extra day or two in a largely deserted dormitory before joining Jihyo went off as planned. The first day they went out on a date - watching a movie together while holding hands, enjoying a meal at a restaurant and, in the quiet trainee lounge exchanged their Christmas gifts early.

“Here,” Nayeon said. “I didn’t want you guessing what I got so I went while you were practicing last week.” She handed a small box over.

With a wry grin, Jeongyeon handed an equally small box back. “I went while you were busy with Jihyo last week, too.”

“You said you had an upset stomach!”

“I lied.”

They shared a laugh and unwrapped their respective presents only for both of them to exclaim, “OH MY GOD!” once the wrapping paper was off. They held identical black boxes.

“Did you copy me—?”

“I didn’t! I saw that store just a block away—”

“— From the cafe?”

“Yeah!”

Laughing at how in sync their gifts were, it descended into hysterics once they realized that they had purchased the same heart-shaped pendant necklace for one another. And had something laser-etched onto one side. Jeongyeon was doubled over, nearly crying into the seat cushions while Nayeon repeatedly swatted her arm as they shook in laughter.

Only after the bout of belly laughter passed did they sit up, wipe the tears from their eyes and examined the tiny writing on the golden hearts.

On one, ‘I 🖤 you Nayeon’.

On the other, ‘You 🖤 Nayeon’.

Nayeon was touched with her inscription while Jeongyeon gave her girlfriend a look even as she put it on. “Really?”

“I just wanted to make sure you don’t forget,” Nayeon answered with a broad grin. Her necklace glinted light back.

Later that night, Nayeon lay on the lower bunk - Jeongyeon’s - and thought about her upcoming debut. It was so close, she could feel it. _I just need to be patient._ Her fingers traced the heart pendant laying on her collarbone when the door opened and Jeongyeon entered carrying a small basket of toiletries. She placed it on a dresser and slipped into bed next to Nayeon smelling of mint toothpaste and lotion. 

“You look deep in thought.”

“Just thinking about the future. Our future,” Nayeon replied with a slight smile.

“Our career or about us?” Jeongyeon asked as she embraced Nayeon close.

“Yes,” Nayeon breathed before going for a passionate kiss in a night where they didn’t have to worry about anyone hearing them.

* * *

**February 2015**

A new year was supposed to bring hope and the promise of new and better things. This was a disappointment for many of the trainees at JYP Entertainment. Over the holidays, the company seemed to reconsider their plans to launch a new girl group to be the junior group to Miss A and after a Friday training session, the members of 6MIX were called to meet with the A&R managers and given the bad news.

6MIX was no more.

It seemed cruel to each of the members in different ways. For someone like Jihyo, it was supposed to be the capstone of a decade of dedication to the trainee program. For Sana, it was barely a month after she was assigned to the group. 

Despondency and depression set in for the girls, affecting them in different ways. Over the next few months they lost their focus, bringing fresh rumors among the trainees who wondered why the 6MIX debut was canceled. 

Jihyo found herself stressed as she stared at the potential decade not bearing fruit and she turned to eating as a coping mechanism. As she put on a few more pounds, her trainers admonished her during the regular weigh-ins which only compounded the stress and stress-eating.

Sana, twice denied a debut, cried herself to sleep regularly with Momo bearing witness to what that level of stress was doing to her gentle roommate. 

And after a blissful holiday, Nayeon and Jeongyeon found their relationship straining as they struggled to contain their despair. Nayeon would frequently wander off alone to be with her thoughts rather than unload her anxieties onto the woman she cared for. Jeongyeon coped with her thoughts by distracting herself with a part-time job at a bakery. 

All of their dancing suffered because they stopped showing up to training sessions as regularly. As senior trainees, they were expected to show their own initiative and train independently to stay in practice. That’s not to say they didn’t show up to practice rooms, but their lessened presence only fed rumors that they were in trouble.

Valentine’s Day passed and Nayeon was lying awake in bed, staring at the ceiling. Jeongyeon had a busy shift at the bakery with all the Valentine’s Day shoppers buying sweets and cakes for their loved ones. Spending it alone was not how Nayeon would’ve wanted her first Valentine’s Day with a girlfriend - and if she was honest with herself, she was more than a little pissed.

Jeongyeon entered their shared dorm room quietly late at night - she had permission to come in late due to her part-time job - and quietly prepared to go to bed. Nayeon didn’t say anything at first, just watching as an exhausted and listless Jeongyeon moved about the room.

“Jeongyeon,” she said after a couple of minutes.

This brought a startled look from the younger girl. “I thought you were asleep. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Of course I waited up for you. It’s Valentine’s Day.”

“I- I know. I made you something.” Jeongyeon gestured to a small box she set on the desk.

Nayeon took a breath. She wanted to be mad because she thought Jeongyeon forgot. She swung down off the top bunk and they stood awkwardly. The past few weeks had put an unexpected amount of distance between them. “Jeongyeon—”

Jeongyeon sensed where the conversation was going to go and looked down. “I know. I’m sorry I haven’t been around, especially today. It’s just that—”

“Do you— not want to be with me any more?”

The question so bluntly put brought Jeongyeon’s head up, eyes wide. “What? No! I mean… yes! I mean—” She stammered before stopping to take a breath. “I want to be with you.”

“But you haven’t, you know, actually _been here_ to be with me!”

“You’ve been avoiding me, too, you know!” Jeongyeon said with some heat.

“No, I haven’t! I’ve been—!”

“Out at the park? Seeing your parents? At the doctor’s? That’s just in the past two weeks when I didn’t have shifts. I even skipped a workout day because I thought were off and we could spend the day together, finally. Where were you?”

Unlike Jeongyeon, Nayeon didn’t have a job to cover the fact that she was trying to avoid Jeongyeon, but only to avoid depressing her further. “Out….” She finally replied, lamely.

“Out? That’s it?”

“Look, I didn’t want to fight, but something’s happening between us. Let’s not blame each other for whatever’s been happening. Can we fix it?”

Jeongyeon sighed and her shoulders slumped. She felt a moment of honest was due. “Do you think it’s time for us to leave?”

Nayeon blinked; that wasn’t the answer she was expecting at all. “What? Leave… training?”

“I’ve been thinking about what Jennie said at that late summer party last year. She was crying, you know. She’s been training as long as us and she hasn’t even had a pre-debut group to look forward to like us. Maybe she’s right. Maybe we’re never going to debut. Why should we just keep having endless lessons if we’re never going to use them?”

There were plenty of reasons not to quit, which Nayeon knew. The enormous cost of their training if they walked out. Not wanting to give up the dreams of a young girl who was desperately trying to make them still happen. “We don’t know that we’re not going to debut. We’re so close, Jeongyeon. You can’t quit.” _You can’t leave me like this._

“I don’t know,” Jeongyeon said, swallowing thickly. “The more time I spend at the bakery, the more I think, ‘I could do this. I could bake cakes and deal with customers and be happy. I could follow my dad’s footsteps,’ you know? Sometimes, I just wonder if I’m only here because I promised my grandmother I’d be singer and she supported me coming here.”

“So do it for her,” Nayeon urged. _Do it for us._

Just then Jeongyeon’s phone rang, startling both girls. It was late, so the call was unexpected. Jeongyeon picked it up and noticed it was her family’s home phone number. Frowning, she answered it. 

“Hello?”

“Jeongyeon,” a hoarse and sniffly voice replied. 

“Mom?”

“You need to come home tomorrow.”

Even in those few words, Jeongyeon could hear the poorly held back tears in her mother’s voice. “What happened? Did something happen to dad?”

“No. It’s your grandmother. She passed away this evening.”

The phone fell to the floor from Jeongyeon’s lifeless fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for everyone hanging in with this story. I know it’s been a while since my last update! A very belated Happy New Year to you all.
> 
> If you’ve been enjoying this series, please let me know in the comments below!
> 
> I do have quite a few chapters sketched out, including how it ends. It’s now a matter of writing it all out!
> 
> Playlist for all the chapter intro songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0mf6hBJylYQvBoNtbQy4Q6
> 
> Chapter announcements on Twitter @DriveByDrabbles


End file.
